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March 3, 2009
Working Nights Affects Your Metabolism
Have you, a friend or a family member ever started working the night shift and found yourself physically ill?
Wired's Science blog points out a recent study that shifting our sleep/work patterns causes metabolic change, which then leaves us vulnerable to disease.
The patterns were initially explained as a function of poor nutrition and low exercise, but night workers don't necessarily live less healthy lives than their day shift counterparts. Risks remained high even when lifestyle was removed from the equation.
That left hypotheses about links between biological clocks and metabolic hormone regulation. Studies on animals suggest a connection, but relatively little research has been conducted on people engaged in shift work.
The latest findings, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, chart a clear path from work-sleep cycles to metabolic disregulation to disease.
tags: health
Posted by linda at March 3, 2009 2:31 PM
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