Night shift work linked to diabetes

Daily Dose

December 12, 2011|By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

Night shift work has long been associated with a string of health problems such as sleep disorders and an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. In a new study, Harvard School of Public Health researchers quantified how much rotating shift work contributes to the risk of diabetes - which occurs in 1 in 12 American adults - and it’s significant.

The study, involving more than 175,000 nurses, found that those who worked night shifts three or more times a month were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes over 20 years compared with people who didn’t work night shifts with as much as a 60 percent greater risk in those who did shift work for two decades.

While the new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doesn’t prove that night shift work causes diabetes, other research has shown that those who come off a night shift tend to have higher insulin levels and higher levels of inflammation - both involved in diabetes - possibly due to a disruption in the body’s delicate circadian rhythms.

Shift workers had higher obesity rates - which is an independent risk factor for diabetes - and they had a tendency to get fewer than six hours of sleep each day, according to study leader An Pan.

Here’s what he recommends to minimize risks of night shift work:

1. Make adequate sleep a priority. Get 9 or 10 hours of sleep on the two previous nights before the shift. If you work the graveyard shift every night, make a plan to sleep seven to eight hours in a quiet darkened room when you get home in the morning.

2. Commit yourself to daily exercise. That will help you sleep better during nights you don’t have shift work.

3. Minimize caffeine. Try to avoid all caffeine within eight hours of your scheduled bedtime.