Shift workers 'risking' diabetes

[Misfit]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17680882

Shift workers getting too little sleep at the wrong time of day may be increasing their risk of diabetes and obesity, according to researchers.

The team is calling for more measures to reduce the impact of shift working following the results of its study.

Researchers controlled the lives of 21 people, including meal and bedtimes.

The results, published in Science Translational Medicine, showed changes to normal sleep meant the body struggled to control sugar levels.

Some participants even developed early symptoms of diabetes within weeks.

Shift work has been associated with a host of health problems.

Doctors at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in the US, were trying to study its effects in a controlled environment.

 

[acommondisaster]

Thanks for the article, it supports a little of what I have heard or thought. I've been on 12 hour nightshift since 1997. I love the hours and the much more painless commute. In the last few years, I've really struggled with sugar cravings and weight gain. But I have never experienced the kind of gain they talk about in the article.

I wish they had used real shiftworkers and their unique lifestyle in the study rather light dimming and a little sleep deprivation. I've noticed over the years that a nightworker's family (and even the shiftworker themselves) don't always treat their hours seriously. No one would seriously schedule a doctor's appointment for 3am, but you'll find shiftworkers who will schedule things for the middle of their sleeptime, or whose families (or their employers) think nothing of expecting the shiftworker get up to attend to something during the day. Consequently, I've worked with some people who sleep very little during their work week (3 hours) and are always struggling.

 

[luvmygdaughters]

Thanks for the article, it supports a little of what I have heard or thought. I've been on 12 hour nightshift since 1997. I love the hours and the much more painless commute. In the last few years, I've really struggled with sugar cravings and weight gain. But I have never experienced the kind of gain they talk about in the article.

I wish they had used real shiftworkers and their unique lifestyle in the study rather light dimming and a little sleep deprivation. I've noticed over the years that a nightworker's family (and even the shiftworker themselves) don't always treat their hours seriously. No one would seriously schedule a doctor's appointment for 3am, but you'll find shiftworkers who will schedule things for the middle of their sleeptime, or whose families (or their employers) think nothing of expecting the shiftworker get up to attend to something during the day. Consequently, I've worked with some people who sleep very little during their work week (3 hours) and are always struggling.

I agree, my husband has worked nights for the past 18 years. The company he works for thinks nothing of calling him at 8 AM when he didnt get home till 4 AM. I told him he should start calling them while he's at work, you know, around midnight or 1 AM. Maybe they would take the hint. It never ceases to amaze me how people can be so inconsiderate sometime.