How Night Shifts Affect Your Health: In today’s life, work pressure on people has increased a lot. In many places people have to work in night shifts, the effect of which is visible on their health. Waking up at night disturbs the body’s biological clock i.e. circadian rhythm. This not only disturbs the functioning of the body but also increases the risk of many serious diseases in the long term. According to health experts, night shift has a deep impact on the body’s biological clock, sleep, mental health and digestive system.
Working at night not only has a deep impact on physical but also mental health. Due to imbalance of circadian rhythm and lack of sleep, problems like anxiety, mood swings, irritability, stress, chronic fatigue and depression are seen in night shift workers. Many studies have also found that employees working in night shifts have higher stress levels and some require treatment. The timing of eating and drinking becomes irregular during night shift. Many people eat too much caffeine, snacks, fried or packaged food at night, which affects the digestive system.
The risk of metabolic syndrome has been found to increase by 20 to 40% in night shift workers. In the long term, this can cause problems like weight gain, high cholesterol, increased triglycerides, blood sugar imbalance and high blood pressure. This imbalance affects the functioning of insulin, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. People who work at night often consume more calories, remain less active and are not able to sleep properly during the day. All these factors together spoil the metabolism and cause diseases.
Many researches show that working night shift for a long time can increase the risk of heart disease by about 40%. Irregular lifestyle, lack of sleep, excessive stress and unstable hormones have a negative impact on heart health. In some research, night shift has also been linked to increased risk of cancer. However, more research is needed in this regard. Many researches have revealed that people who work night shifts have more problems of gas, acidity and constipation. Waking up at night can increase the risk of stomach heaviness, imbalance of digestive enzymes, irritable bowel syndrome and peptic ulcer. This happens because the body’s digestive system also runs on circadian rhythm and its activity slows down at night.
Now the question is, how can people working night shifts avoid diseases? According to health experts, as soon as the night shift ends, try to sleep in a dark and quiet room, reduce caffeine intake and do light stretching every 1-2 hours. Do not eat heavy food at night and eat easily digestible food. Take sunlight in the morning and exercise for 20 to 30 minutes daily. If there is persistent fatigue or irregularity in heartbeat, consult a doctor.
