Shift Work Sleep Disorder
Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together - Thomas Dekker
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How Night Shifts Perpetuate Health Inequality
A man claiming to be a police officer wrote to me recently with an important question, one that’s applicable to all people who sleep:
Dr. Hamblin, I’m a police officer who works a night shift. … A lot of police departments have a rotating schedule requiring officers to change from nights to days, and back to nights again. My department keeps us on the same shift indefinitely unless we ask to change. Is there any research or medical opinion about working a rotating night-day schedule versus working a consistent night shift? ... I know that is a broad question but any advice is appreciated. Nic
Like most questions about bodies, there’s not one definitive answer that’s best…
Resources
Why being a night owl may lead to earlier death
Imagine being jet-lagged every day. That’s what late sleepers feel. And it may be harming their health.
Your schedule could be killing you
Modern lifestyles are at war with the way our bodies evolved to function.
5 Hacks to Manage Shift Work
Shift work disorder is a significant problem for the American workforce, and economic trends suggest that it will likely be a growing problem. Thankfully, you can take steps to be proactive in minimizing the negative effects of shift work on your health.
How to Treat Shift Work Sleep Disorder
It’s not only the graveyard shift that’s a problem. Even those working early mornings or afternoon/evening shifts may be susceptible to problems. Overall, an estimated 10% of all shift workers have been diagnosed with shift work disorder, and up to 30% display the symptoms — including insomnia and excessive drowsiness — at least part of the time.
Night Shift Makes Metabolism Go Haywire
By closely monitoring people with disrupted sleep patterns, researchers have documented the metabolic disarray produced by working at night and sleeping during the day.
The impact of shift work on health
The more exposure to circadian disruption - for instance, by working longer hours at night for longer periods of time - correlates with the onset of more aggressive diseases, from cardiovascular disease to various types of cancers...
The Solitude of Working Nights
With shift-work sleep disorder comes social isolation, but also meaningful solidarity.
What Happens To Your Body If You Get Fewer Than Six Hours Of Sleep Every Night?
Your body rewards you when you sleep 7 to 8 hours during the night, but it will penalize you severely, if you turn it upside down. The reason is because of the diurnal hormone rhythm that we all have built in.
Why Do Graveyard Shifts Wreak Havoc on Human Metabolism?
By getting volunteers to live in a sleep lab for more than a month, researchers hope to unravel the effects of chronic sleep debt and circadian rhythm gone awry.
Why Working The Night Shift Has Major Health Consequences
Previous research has acknowledged shift work’s many links to poor health: The World Health Organization deemed it a carcinogen in 2007 due to its repeated disruption of the body’s circadian rhythm, and it has also been associated with an increased risk for heart and brain problems.
Working Nights, Sleeping Poorly
A patient who is having sleep problems because of work should maintain a steady sleep-wake schedule seven days a week. Such a schedule is admittedly difficult to follow but can be extremely helpful. It can be especially tough on days off, when the patient wants to spend time with his or her family or friends in the daytime and revert to “normal” sleep periods.
How Night Shifts Perpetuate Health Inequality
Newly discovered health risks of working night shifts keep coming out: higher risks of coronary artery disease, diabetes, weight gain, and some cancers. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed night shifts as “probably carcinogenic.” Among people who’ve worked a decade of shift work, their brains show cognitive decline years in advance.
Working Time Society
The Working Time Society (WTS) and the Scientific Committee on “Shiftwork and Working Time” of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH-SC SW&WT) are twin associations focused on studies, research and practices on psycho-social aspects and health problems connected with night and shift work and, more generally, with working hours.
National Sleep Foundation
What it is, how it affects you, and how to manage healthy sleep while working a shift-based schedule.
CDC
Particularly in light of the likely continuing increase in nontraditional working schedules, work-based prevention strategies and policies should be adopted to improve the quantity and quality of sleep among workers. Unfortunately, there is no single ideal strategy to successfully address the sleep risks of every demanding shiftwork situation.
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