Comments on: Graveyard shifts can bring on the actual grave?

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:10:21 +0000

Well, as a student by day, scribe by night, I can happily say that between the effect of excessive caffeine consumption, my sedentary study habits, lack of proper diet, and now work habits, I’m screwed.

By: mo

mo — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:14:32 +0000

I had to laugh at your comment about a 24 hour world. People don’t get sick on a 9-5 schedule as you well know. Nursing has got to be the hardest hit segment of the population for third shift illness. It’s not like we can tell patients to look after themselves after nine pm.
Just anecdotally in my unit in the last two years: two breast cancers, three premature babies which all died, back, back and more back injuries..no simple muscle strains all discs that have “blown out” in multiples. It may be fatigue, stress or screwed up clocks, all I know is nurses on the night shift get sick a lot.

By: TheNewGuy

TheNewGuy — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:53:18 +0000

Can’t say I’m surprised… I worked nothing but nights for years, and I’m convinced that the whole circadian dysrhythmia phenomenon takes years off your life.

By: eDrugSearch Blog » Blog Archive » Healthcare 100 links for (11-30-07)

eDrugSearch Blog » Blog Archive » Healthcare 100 links for (11-30-07) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:46:18 +0000

[...] Graveyard shifts can bring on the actual grave? (GruntDoc) [...]

By: Hallwayfour

Hallwayfour — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:28:40 +0000

I’d heard recently the same thing about nightshifts and heart disease – supposedly there’s an increased risk in both men and women of cardiovascular disease in people who work a certain number of night shifts for a certain number of years (clearly, my evidence is sketchy!).

By: Mary

Mary — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:32:20 +0000

yeah, if they have insurance in the first place… My sister works the nightshift where she works and has none. She claims she can’t afford it, but she can afford every halloween thing that every store has to offer throughout the year? Anyway, yeah, she read about this, and thought that she should get a payraise for the higher risk.

By: Vreni

Vreni — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 06:00:40 +0000

I think there is a lot to this, and I agree that cortisol also plays a vital role.

Melatonin is only triggered by darkness, and it is our primary rest and repair hormone. It controls estrogen levels, which is why it is the hormone cancers resulting from estrogen dominance that are affected by night-time light, as melatonin is suppressed.

Before the invention of the light bulb we used to spend far more time each 24 hour period in the dark, and now with artificial night-time light, cortisol levels are frequently too high in the evening, commonly contributing to insomnia, poor quality sleep, blood-sugar levels that are too high (cortisol raises blood sugar), insulin levels that are too high, and eventually possibly type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, or cancer. An imbalance in cortisol wreaks havoc with the endocrine system, also impairing thyroid function, frequently resulting in hypothyroid. So, getting enough dark time (9 to 9.5 hours a night – say 10pm to 7am) can go a long way to rebalancing hormonal function in the body. If one can get past the sensational tone, a well researched book on this topic is called “Lights Out, Sleep, Sugar, and Survival” by Wiley and Formby.

There is actually a lot of research on this topic – good to know the news is finally getting out!

By: Laundress

Laundress — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:40:00 +0000

crud, didn’t really articulate that very well. Meant: you are thinking some sort of reaction to sunlight/daylight is kindly or suppressing carcinogenic actions? Or that nighttime activity exacerbates them?

What about people who work nights but also visit tanning booths (there must be a fine, large sample of them??)

By: Laundress

Laundress — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:36:51 +0000

I am reallllly slow on the uptake babe. What do you mean “I might be smoking”? You are hot? You smoke? You are just theorizing that people who work nights might or might NOT smoke? (Secretly hoping you are smoking — ya hottie)

By: GruntDoc

GruntDoc — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:14:15 +0000

Merry,
I don’t know. We’ll have to see what the research comes up with as associations (there will not be clear causes). I might be smoking, though there are plenty of day-shift smokers, so I don’t know how that will change cancer rates.

My money’s on cortisol (steriods that are circadian in day-shift lab rats), but that’s just a guess.