There are umpteen benefits of good sleep, waking up early in the morning and sleeping early at night. From obesity to type 2 diabetes and heart disease to depression, sleep can help reduce your risk of a number of deadly diseases and conditions. This is why those working in night shifts often face health problems. A new research revealed some shocking details. Those working regularly in night shifts suffer from lack of proper sleep and night-time wakefulness which can cause damage to the structure of the human DNA and lead to many diseases, including cancer and diabetes, as well as cardiovascular, neurological and pulmonary diseases. According to SW Choi, Research Associate at The University of Hong Kong, DNA damage is a change in the basic structure of DNA that is not repaired when the DNA is replicated.
Published in the Anesthesia academic journal, the study shows that DNA repair gene expression is lower at baseline among night workers and further decreases after acute sleep deprivation. This means that night workers demonstrate impaired DNA repair. The findings showed that people who are required to work overnight demonstrate 30 per cent higher DNA breaks as compared with those not required to work overnight, and this DNA damage is further increased by over 25 per cent after a night of acute sleep deprivation.
While these finds are shocking, frequently working night shifts can also lead to other dangerous health conditions. This is how it can damage your health:
Type 2 diabetes: A study published in the journal Diabetes Care, revealed that the risk of Type 2 diabetes is more in people working irregular or rotating shifts with usual night shifts. They were 44 per cent more likely to have Type 2 diabetes. In addition, compared to day workers, all shift workers were more likely to have Type 2 diabetes, except for permanent night shift workers, the researchers mentioned.
Cancer in women: Night shifts significantly increase women’s chances of getting cancer, according to a study. Overall, long-term night shift work among women increased the risk of cancer by 19 per cent. When analyzing specific cancers, the researchers found that this population had an increased risk of skin (41 per cent), breast (32 per cent), and gastrointestinal cancer (18 per cent) compared with women who did not perform long-term night shift work. The researchers also found that the risk of breast cancer increased by 3.3 per cent for every five years of night shift work. The findings have been published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Obesity: A study published in Obesity Reviews revealed that night shift workers had a higher frequency of developing abdominal obesity than other obesity types. Permanent night workers demonstrated a higher risk than rotating shift workers.
Heart disease: Rotating night shifts may slightly increase a woman’s risk of heart disease, a study has said. The study, published in the US journal JAMA, showed that women who work more than 10 years of rotating night shifts have a 15 to 18 per cent increased risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD).
Cognitive impairment in women: A study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said that night shifts affect women’s brain more than men’s. The study found that the changes in the circadian rhythm had a stronger effect on the brain performance of women than men. It found that women were cognitively impaired after working night shifts.
Car crashes: Night shifts put those who drive home after their shift at significantly high risk of car crashes, according to a study published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
With inputs from IANS