Shift work clearly detrimental to health

It is a fact that doing the night shift at work is terribly hard. It not only affect our personal and social lives it also throws our whole sleep cycle into chaos. Now scientists at the Sleep Research Center Surrey have found definite proof that night work can lead to long term damage starting at molecular level. Night shift work has been linked to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart attacks and cancer.

According to an article in BBC World News by James Gallagher;
'Experts said the scale, speed and severity of damage caused by being awake at night was a surprise.

The human body has its own natural rhythm or body clock tuned to sleep at night and be active during the day.
It has profound effects on the body, altering everything from hormones and body temperature to athletic ability, mood and brain function.'

Scientists observed 22 individuals as their bodies adjusted from their normal patterns to working the night shift. Preliminary blood test showed that 6% genes had precise daily activity cycles. As the individuals got into a night work routine, these cycles were thrown off. 
The researchers call this 'Chrono-Chaos', here the scientists on the team explain it;

"Over 97% of rhythmic genes become out of sync with mistimed sleep and this really explains why we feel so bad during jet lag, or if we have to work irregular shifts," said Dr Simon Archer, one of the researchers at the University of Surrey.
Fellow researcher Prof Derk-Jan Dijk said every tissue in the body had its own daily rhythm, but with shifts that was lost with the heart running to a different time to the kidneys running to a different time to the brain.
He told the BBC: "It's chrono-chaos. It's like living in a house. There's a clock in every room in the house and in all of those rooms those clocks are now disrupted, which of course leads to chaos in the household."
Prof Dijk added: "We of course know that shift work and jet lag is associated with negative side effects and health consequences.
"They show up after several years of shift work. We believe these changes in rhythmic patterns of gene expression are likely to be related to some of those long-term health consequences."

According to Web MD about 8.6 million people do shift work, meaning either they work the night shift or they rotate shifts during the week.  These include police officers, firefighters, nurses, doctors, pilots, waitresses, truck drivers, and many more professionals. Even a personal trainer who works out at the gym with clients in the early mornings and evenings is a shift worker.
Some of the short term health problems seen more commonly in shift workers are; 

• Gastrointestinal symptoms like upset stomach, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and heartburn
• Increased risk of injuries and accidents
• Insomnia
• Decreased quality of life
• General feeling of being unwell

Whereas the long term effects on health are harder to measure but there has been compelling proof that shift workers might be more prone to these long term medical problems;

• Cardiovascular disease
• Diabetes and Metabolic Disorder
• Depression and Mood Disorders
• Serious Gastrointestinal Problems
• Obesity
• Problems with Fertility and Pregnancy
• Cancer

 Although most of these long term effects may occur only after decades of disruptive shift work, but some health problems might develop much faster. For many professions shift work is inevitable, hence can not be completely avoided. In those cases, here are some suggestions on the Web MD to help minimize the damage:

• Eat Well and Exercise
• Get enough Sleep
• Change your Schedule
• See your Doctor

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References

Night work 'throws body into chaos' (BBC World News)

The Health Risks of Shift Work (Web MD)