Saturday, June 25, 2016

Is it unhealthy to work at night and sleep during the day?

Yes.

The night shift ("graveyard" shift) is classified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization.  The theory behind why shift work correlates with increased risk of cancer has to do with the body's melatonin levels and the changes the body experiences when forced into staying awake during a time when there is no natural sunlight.

The original study that brought this issue to light found that nurses who worked the night shift in hospitals tended to have increased occurrence of breast cancer.  After necessary statistical pruning and analysis, the correlation still held up. 
Today, 20% of the working population works the night shift.

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