Is working permanent night shift bad for your health ?

sillysi

ive been working a permanent night shift for nearly 13 years now , 6.00pm till 6.15 am for 3 nights a week . This might sound good hours to some of you but its not always great when you cant sleep and interupts your social life .
my question is though , has anyone ever heard or read about working nights for a long period is bad for your health ? i recently heard that it can take 10 years off your life but dont no how true it is and as of yet have no evidence to back this up .
can anyone shed any light on this or is it just a myth .

dmg24

Working shifts has been shown to be detrimental, but I am not sure that working regular nights has been proven to have the same effect. I used to love working night shifts.

GavB79

A study was done that showed working nights consistently disrupted circadian rythym - our body clock. We are not nocturnal creatures by nature and repeatedly going against our natural instinct did cause detrimental effects. Can't remember who the study was by I'm afraid, though I probably read about in New Scientist.

dmg24

GavB79 wrote: »

A study was done that showed working nights consistently disrupted circadian rythym - our body clock. We are not nocturnal creatures by nature and repeatedly going against our natural instinct did cause detrimental effects. Can't remember who the study was by I'm afraid, though I probably read about in New Scientist.

The research considers shiftwork, as opposed to solely working nights, although it does point out that sleep taken in the day tends to be of a poorer quality.

http://www.bma.org.uk/healthcare_policy/working_hours_conditions/implicationsforhealthandsafetyofjuniordoctorsworkingarrangements.jsp?page=4

maninthestreet

Look what it did to Dracula!

TEDDYRUKSPIN

Shift patterns can be detrimental to health. However, not everyone is built the same. As long as you get the right amount of sleep, you should be ok.

Stigy

I used to work nights in the security industry (12-hours), and have worked shifts most of my life. I prefered night shifts as I found I was less tired late on in the day (easy to wake up at 1400hrs, less so at 0415hrs!). The downside is that dead patch between 3 and 5am where you become fatigued though. My last night shift job was a Mobile Security Officer role, and the fatigue I suffered in that role was imense some days, infact I've often switched to auto pilot and have no recollection of the journey I had just driven....Maybe It's a good job I got out when I did!

I think it depends on the person to be honest. I can sleep when it's daylight, yet others can't too easily, which would effect your suitability to work long night shifts! My job now requires shorter shifts (9.15hrs) and the latest finish is 0100hrs. This in my mind is a better shift pattern as you're rarely tired on late turns. Early turns are the same 9.15hrs shifts and start at 0800hrs, which do tend to take their toll I find!

ariba10

Worked shifts for most of my working life.

A lot of my workmates have died, but on the other hand.-- I am still alive.

DCFC79

It depends on you as a person, if you eat properly and get the right amount of sleep then you should be ok, also depends if you are happy doing nights, ive done them before and i was extremely tired after 2 or 3 weeks even though i woudl get enough sleep during the week but mayeb thats down to the routine i was in

Stigy

DCFC79 wrote: »

It depends on you as a person, if you eat properly and get the right amount of sleep then you should be ok, also depends if you are happy doing nights, ive done them before and i was extremely tired after 2 or 3 weeks even though i woudl get enough sleep during the week but mayeb thats down to the routine i was in

It's probably worse if you have children I'd imagine. I don't have, so sleeping whenever I want was okay for me. With a few kids bouncing around, school runs and weekends, I have no doubt I'd have been more tired!

moneypuddle

My mum worked as a nurse for years 8pm till 7am, six days on eigh days off. She's as fit as a butcher's dog (at 53) but does always look after herself too in terms of exercise and what she eats, no smoking or drinking etc, so I guess its a little dependent on the type of person you are