Thread by @hyderabaddoctor

Do night shift duties pose any risks on health?

1. Large number of people are employed in jobs that require working at nights and sleeping in daytime.
Is it healthy? Are there any health hazards associated with this routine?
Let's look at some of the research on this topic.

2. Type 2 #diabetes :
Night shift work, especially rotating shift work including night shifts, is associated with higher type 2 diabetes odds.
Working on #night shifts for >8 nights/month increases the risk of diabetes by 36%. Ref: doi.org/10.2337/dc17-1…
#MedTwitter

3. Hypertension: In a recent study, night shift workers were found to have a higher #hypertension risk than day shift workers, which increased with increasing frequency of night shift work. Ref: doi.org/10.1016/j.mayo…

4. Stroke: Rotating night shift work is associated with a 4% increased risk of ischemic #stroke for every 5 years. The risk is more for #women and greater in women after shift work for 15 years or longer. Ref: doi.org/10.1093/aje/kw…

5. The risk of atrial fibrillation and coronary artery disease is higher among shift duty and night shift workers.

6. Cancer: Various studies on incidence of #breast and prostate #Cancer incidence have shown that the cancer risk is higher by 1-32% among those who do shift duties including night shifts, as compared to those who do not do night shift duties. Ref: doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i5…

7. Obesity: Night shift workers have almost 3 times higher association with abdominal #obesity than day shift workers.
Night shift workers sleep less hours, have higher weight, body mass index and abdominal circumference when compared to the day shift workers.

8. Depression: The risk of #depression is 33% higher among shift workers.
Females bear greater brunt. Female shift workers are 73% more likely to experience depressive symptoms than female non-shift workers. Ref: doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2…

9. #Accidents: People working longer hours or shift duties especially night shift duties are prone to cause accidents both at workplace as well as outside (while driving). This may be partly related to sleep loss associated with shift duties.

10. #erectiledysfunction: Working in night shifts and sleeping in daytime is associated with poorer erectile function. This is partly related to lower #testosterone levels (testosterone production peaks in REM sleep). Ref: doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.js…

11. #Death: Compared with daytime workers or those never exposing to night work, the risks for all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality were 6%, 15% and 4% higher for those ever exposing to night work, respectively. Ref: doi.org/10.1016/j.slee…

12. Conclusions:
Shift work and night shift duties may be a necessity in many sectors. However, one needs to keep in mind the several health hazards that are associated with shift duties.
*Whenever possible, shift to daytime duties.

12a
*If night duties can not be avoided, do them for fewer number of nights per month.
*Providing for a nap time during night duties can mitigate some of the health hazards.