It can often be seen that sleep problems are experienced by those who work in shifts during the night shifts. These people fall asleep late and wake up late in the daytime and cannot get the day’s efficiency. However, sleeping late all the time can cause negative effects on the person’s body.
According to a new study by biologists from the University of Cambridge, night shifts disrupt the synchronization of the body clocks of the brain and heart and cause heart diseases. In their research, experts examined the internal clocks of heart cells, which change the chemical balance of people.
The harmony between the brain and the heart is lost:
The research is important for people who regularly switch between day and night shifts, rather than constantly working night shifts. Accordingly, when the shift is changed, although the brain manages to adapt to this change, the cells in the body may be late in adjusting their biological clocks to these times. This shows that the signals coming from the brain are inconsistent with the expectations of the heart for several days.
While the risk of heart disease depends on many factors such as age, gender and diet, the transitions between day and night shifts can also cause the risk of developing different heart problems. The most frightening of these risks is ‘sudden cardiac death’. The head of the research, Dr. O’Neill stated that in this situation, the heart became confused and stopped for a while. If there is no emergency intervention, the patient can die.
However, O’Neill also offered an interesting comparison made by epidemiologists. According to this, disruption of the body clock, such as going back and forth between the day and night shifts throughout life, has the same effect as smoking a pack of cigarettes every day. It is stated that in order for day and night shifts not to put health at risk, employees should start with the day shift and switch to the ‘late shift’ first and then the night shift. It is stated that a balanced diet with sports can also reduce the negative effects of night shifts.
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