A new study has cautioned against working in rotating night shifts, saying it may raise the risk of many cardiovascular disease and lung cancer.
According to the study, women who worked for five or more years in rotating night shifts had a modest surge in all-cause and CVD mortality and those who worked for 15 or more years in the rotating night work shift appeared to have a modest rise in lung cancer mortality.
The researchers said that these findings further added to the previous evidence of a potentially hazardous effect of rotating night work shift on the individual’s health as well as longevity.
Health experts explained that circadian system and sleep plays a crucial role in keeping the health of cardiovascular system and anti-tumour activity in good condition. Moreover, there are also several substantial biological evidences that suggest night shift work boosts the cancer growth and cardiovascular diseases and also contribute to higher mortality.
In the study, the researchers involved almost 75,000 registered US nurses and studied the possible association between rotating night shift work and all-cause, cancer and CVD mortality.
The data was collected from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS). The researchers analysed 22 years of follow-up and found that working in the rotating night shifts for over five years was linked with a surge in all-cause and CVD mortality.
All causes mortality appeared to be 11 percent higher for those women who worked 6-14 or 15 years of rotating night work shift. On the other hand, CVD mortality appeared to be 19 percent and 23 percent higher for these groups, respectively.
However, no link was found between any cancer mortality and rotating shift work and, except for the lung cancer in those who worked for night shift for 15 or more years (25 percent higher risk).
Rotating shift work means working for at least three nights a month along with the shifts of days or evenings in the same month.
Health experts have always linked regular work shifts at night hours with higher risk of many types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The World Health Organisation (WHO) had also in the year 2007 grouped night shift as a probable carcinogen because of the circadian disruption.
The findings of study were posted in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.