Night shift work is not good for health, why?

Most office workers are required to work from morning to evening. On the other hand, some professions may require workers to have working hours reversed from night to morning. For example, doctors and nurses on duty in the emergency room, pilots and flight attendants, or 24 hour shop and restaurant clerk. Agreeing to work the night shift means that you must be willing and able to stay up all night. In addition, shift work schedules are also often associated with the risk of serious health problems.

Why does night shift work increase the risk of disease?

Night shift work will certainly change your routine. What should be a time for you to rest and sleep, you actually use it to work and even eat. Conversely, at times when your body is supposed to be doing important activities like moving and digesting, you are sleeping.

Over time, a routine like this will make the body's biological clock messy. The biological clock or circadian clock works to follow all changes in human physical activity, mental activity and behavior in a 24-hour cycle. A person's biological clock determines the sleep cycle, hormone production, body temperature, and various other vital body functions.

The circadian clock also plays a role in regulating when the body must produce new cells and repair damaged DNA. All the effects of this change in the biological clock must also change the body's metabolism. You become more difficult to sleep well (insomnia), frequent fatigue that doesn't seem to be recovering, to other health problems such as indigestion ranging from stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and heartburn, to the risk of injury and accidents. In the end, night shift work can reduce the quality of life and work productivity.

Long term health impacts of night work shifts

Reporting from WebMD, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) revealed that circadian rhythm disturbances can disrupt two tumor suppressor genes that trigger the development of chronic diseases, such as cancer.

Researchers have found an interesting association between shift workers and an increased risk of serious health conditions.

Cardiovascular disease

A review study of multiple studies found that the risk of cardiovascular disease in night shift workers appears to increase by up to 40 percent.

The risk will increase the longer you fly. The risk of stroke increases after a person does shift work for 15 years. One study found that stroke risk increased by five percent every 1 additional year of working shifts.

Diabetes and metabolic disorders

Shift work is a risk factor for diabetes. One study found that shift workers have a 50 percent higher risk of developing diabetes than day laborers. This risk occurs in those who work shifts for 16 hours.

Shift work is also associated with metabolic disorders, a combination of health problems such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, obesity and high cholesterol levels. These are risk factors for diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. The risk of metabolic disorders is three times more in people who work night shifts.

Obesity

There are several possible reasons for the link between obesity and shift work. Poor diet and lack of exercise may be the cause. Hormonal balance also appears to play a role.

The leptin hormone regulates appetite, so it makes you feel full. Because shift work seems to lower leptin levels, shift workers often feel hungry. As a result you eat more than daily workers.

Depression and mood disorders

Several studies have found that shift workers are more likely to experience symptoms of depression and other mood disorders.

Shift working can also directly affect brain chemistry. One study reported that when compared to day workers, night workers had lower levels of serotonin, a brain chemical that plays a role in mood regulation.

Impaired fertility and pregnancy

Shift working can affect the female reproductive system. One study looked at flight attendants, who usually worked shifts. The results showed that flight attendants who worked shifts were more likely to experience miscarriage compared to flight attendants who worked in normal hours.

Shift work appears to be associated with an increased risk of complications during childbirth, preterm and low birth weight babies, fertility problems, endometriosis, irregular menstruation, and painful menstruation.

Cancer

There is some evidence, from both human and animal studies, that shift work poses an increased risk of cancer.

Two analyzes of data from multiple studies found that night work increased breast cancer risk by up to 50 percent. Shifts of work on airplanes, such as pilots and flight attendants, increase the risk by up to 70 percent.

In addition, shift work can also increase the risk of colorectal and prostate cancer. So far, research shows that cancer risk rises only after years of working shifts, perhaps as long as 20 years.