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Topic: "The swing shift is the killer," (Read 609 times) |
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ben_uk
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"The swing shift is the killer,"
« on: Nov 7th, 2005, 8:37am » |
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Mess with the body clock at your peril
From issue 2496 of New Scientist magazine, 23 April 2005, page 16
By Helen Phillips
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg18624964.900.html
http://tinyurl.com/adzlb
THE way patterns of shift work are organized could be causing major health problems, according to a pair of reports commissioned by the UK government body that regulates workplace safety.
The reports, prepared for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), show that offshore oil workers adopting the most popular shift pattern have a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes. This pattern also makes workers more tired and inattentive, increasing the chance of accidents and mistakes.
Chronobiologist Josephine Arendt and her team at the University of Surrey in Guildford and psychologist Andrew Smith and colleagues at Cardiff University in Wales separately studied the physiological and psychological health of a group of 45 men working on offshore oil rigs. Both teams compared the two main shift schedules operated on a two-week tour of duty. One was a simple 12-hour shift, with workers staying on night shifts or day shifts for the full two weeks. The other was a split rota of seven night shifts followed by seven day shifts. This was more popular with the workers because they were already adapted to night sleeping when they returned home. But it proved worst for their health.
Urine tests from workers on the split shift revealed that levels of melatonin, the sleep-regulating hormone normally secreted at night, did not become synchronized to the new sleep times after shift changes. As well as being more tired and less attentive on the job, these unadapted workers showed signs of being at risk of long-term health effects. The men had abnormally high levels of fatty acids circulating in their blood after meals, compared with the day shift or adapted workers. This increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other metabolic disorders. "The swing shift is the killer," says Arendt.
“Workers adopting the most popular shift pattern were at increased risk of heart disease and diabetes” The obvious conclusion is that workers should try to avoid split shifts and other schedule changes that put their body clocks out of kilter, but Smith points out that the there will be exceptions. "A one-size-fits-all approach is a mistake," he says.
The HSE plans to publicize the findings to employers, and to issue recommendations for minimizing the dangers, for example by avoiding fatty or sugary snacks at night. But legislation forcing companies to adopt particular shift schedules is unlikely. "It won't change overnight," says Smith. "But it would be rather foolish not to take this on board."
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Jeepgun
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #1 on: Nov 7th, 2005, 9:04am » |
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Interesting... I posed the question a few months ago, to the CH-specific board, asking how many CHer's were night-owls before the onset of cluster headaches, (for those of us who started having them as adults) and how many of us had worked nightshifts, swing shifts, etc. This, in conjunction with the study of the mice who were artificially jet-lagged, may be a major piece of the puzzle.
-Frank
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pubgirl
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #2 on: Nov 7th, 2005, 10:00am » |
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Ben and Jeep
I've always had a personal feeling that it might have been a contributory factor for developing CH me - either/or/both the shifts and weird nocturnal liveliness and odd sleeping habits.
I did shiftwork including constantly changing earlies, lates and nights and "quick changeovers" for the first few years of my working life (and was constantly ill with colds and flu's etc so I agree with the HSA's health concerns) and have had really notably bizarre sleeping habits all my adult life long before developing CH.
My father and both brothers have exactly the same odd sleeping habits, although Thank God they didn't develop CH. We all sleep in chunks of 2-4 hours, day or night, doesn't seem to matter and have very active periods in the small hours of the morning. None of us are insomniac, the opposite actually, we can all sleep at will at any time. We also all cope incredibly well with very little sleep for long periods. Useful if you have a sleepless baby or CH.
I can't believe this is an odd coincidence and can't help feeling that there is some kind of genetic connection with this odd body clock stuff that directly relates to my CH in some way, possibly a deformed hypothalamus link, who knows??
Wendy
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| « Last Edit: Nov 7th, 2005, 10:02am by pubgirl » |
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BobG
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #3 on: Nov 7th, 2005, 10:11am » |
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I have worked rotating shifts for 35+ years. Change shifts every week. Some of us like it and have no problems. Others can't take the weekly changes and they go away and find another job. Doesn't take long to weed out the sissies.
Does it affect health? Sort of. 2 things I've noticed since starting the rotating shift.............
my hair turned gray and I have to wear glasses.
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Jasmyn
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #4 on: Nov 7th, 2005, 10:21am » |
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Even since childhood I was and still is a nocturnal insomniac... sleep never come easy.
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sandie99
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #5 on: Nov 7th, 2005, 10:24am » |
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I've never worked night shifts, but I used to stay up late as a kid and teen. And when I was younger, I had lots of troubles what came to falling asleep. That stopped back in 2001, which was, ironically, the year my CH started... 
Sanna
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ben_uk
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #6 on: Nov 7th, 2005, 5:38pm » |
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on Nov 7th, 2005, 8:37am, ben_uk wrote:
"levels of melatonin........ not .... synchronized ....sleep times...... shift ...... abnormally high levels of fatty acids circulating in..... blood after meals, ....... other metabolic disorders............. body clocks out of kilter"
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My body clock is “out of kilter”.
My sleep and “other metabolic orders/disorders seem to shift.
I go between being synchronized to a “normal” pattern (sleep at night, awake during the day) – to being the exact opposite. Until my main sleep is in the afternoon and I have a siesta at night. I can “sort of” see a cycle of about 13 weeks.
If I don’t conform to what my “body clock” is dictating (i.e. try stay awake during the day) for the time that I would have been asleep – I experience “jet lag” symptoms.
I also have problems after meals (in particular large meals) in that I get RLS!
Go figure
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| « Last Edit: Nov 7th, 2005, 5:39pm by ben_uk » |
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Lizzie2
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #7 on: Nov 8th, 2005, 9:42am » |
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Eh my sleep was totally messed up before I ever started night shift. I'd love to just stick with one shift, but that's not an option right now...I don't even get a choice until next summer. Not only do I switch shifts all over the place (with very little pattern to it) but I also work 2 12's and 2 8's a week, whereas most nurses work 3 12's. We don't get to do 3 12's until we've been there a year either.
Personally, I prefer nights. Falling asleep in the daytime hours has never been a problem for me. I find it's more troublesome for those who were in the habit of never taking naps or were made to feel like they were lazy if they took a nap during the day or slept in.
That theory never worked for me. I do like to sleep when I can...and the beast is still hitting me in the evening and night, so I actually get a little more continuous sleep during the day, believe it or not!
Now that I've got the kitten however..... heh...
Carrie 
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rickyshot
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #8 on: Nov 8th, 2005, 11:46am » |
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Wow When I was young I worked 2nd and 3 rd shifts, and did double shifts. I always worked 2-3 jobs at all hours. When I had my second child I had no help , had a c section and was very sleep deprived. Had to go back to work when she was 8 weeks. I worked eves and sometimes doubled to nites. DH at the time worked days and kept the kids at nite. I had sleep deprivation and the headaches started that year. Very interesting. Even though I have worked normal hours for over 20 years I wonder...........Did I mess up my circadian rhythm or was I born like that or did the head injury when I was 5 coupled with above do it????
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Jeepgun
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #9 on: Nov 8th, 2005, 12:09pm » |
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I used to be a night-owl anyway. Having been a soldier, I lived in a state of sleep-deprivation. Add to that, working graveyard shifts in the ER, and later, being paged in the middle of the night to fly on medevac missions... And now, flying back and forth to Japan on a fairly regular basis, as well as other countries, it's no wonder my circadian clock is FUBAR'd. 
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ben_uk
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #10 on: Nov 8th, 2005, 12:52pm » |
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Konichiwa Jeep san,
Genki deska?
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Jeepgun
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #11 on: Nov 8th, 2005, 1:04pm » |
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HAI! Ogenki desu yo!! Genki desu ka?
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ben_uk
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #12 on: Nov 9th, 2005, 12:04am » |
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Konbanwa Jeep chan,
Hai “mega” genki so des ne.
sionara
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Jeepgun
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #13 on: Nov 9th, 2005, 7:24am » |
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Taihen genki da!!
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Kateeast
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Re: "The swing shift is the killer,"
« Reply #14 on: Nov 9th, 2005, 8:50am » |
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I'm returning to work after being off sick for 18 weeks and have two shifts. Earlies being from 5.30am til 2.30pm. Lates being from 2p.m til 11p.m. I hope this isn't going to end my new (most of the time) pain free status.
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