BMJ  2006;332:1153-1154 (13 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7550.1153-c

Letter

Confounders in chronic stress at work and metabolic syndrome

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Chandola et al have fallen into the trap of confusing a clinical clustering of risk factors, the metabolic syndrome, with a physiological construct.1 Their definition of metabolic syndrome is that of the NCEPATP III, a panel concerned with clinical identification of subjects at high cardiovascular risk. The panel report notes that excess body fat (particularly abdominal obesity) is an important determinant of the cluster, and a major target of treatment. There is, then, a danger of confusing aetiology with outcome by including abdominal obesity as one of the three risk factors used to define the metabolic syndrome.

Previous studies from this group have shown cross sectional and longitudinal relations of employment grade or work stress with central obesity and weight gain.2 3 Therefore at least part of the findings in the current study are likely to be the consequence of greater weight gain in people subject to chronic work . . . [Full text of this article]

John S Yudkin, professor of medicine

University College London, Archway Campus, London N19 5LW j.yudkin@ucl.ac.uk


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Relevant Article

Chronic stress at work and the metabolic syndrome: prospective study
Tarani Chandola, Eric Brunner, and Michael Marmot
BMJ 2006 332: 521-525. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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