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Nights (Health)

by Reynolds on Mon 06 Sep 2004 02:23 AM BST | Permanent Link | Cosmos

For a start off night shifts are bad for your health, humans are 'designed' to sleep when it is dark, not to charge around like loons looking for people who have fallen over because "My drink was spiked". Shiftwork can increase the risk of...

Obesity.
Cardiovascular disease.
Mood changes.
Higher risk of motor vehicle accidents and work related accidents.
Cause a 1.5 times increase in breast cancer.
It can increase your chances of colon cancer by 35%
Increased likelihood of family problems, including divorce; in my case the difficulty in maintaining a relationship due to a non-understanding girlfriend.

Why do I do this again?

My skin tends to get very bad when I'm working nights, and it is on nightshifts that I'll catch coughs and colds; the stress of working unnatural hours no doubt knocks my immune system on it's arse. Unless I eat nearly constantly I'll also find myself having a general feeling of nausea throughout the night. When I do get to sleep, I'll find myself sleeping longer hours, which means less time for social contact outside of work - not very good for your mental health I would suspect.

On the positive side - if you need to put on some weight, then the diet of chips and kebab that you find yourself forced to eat (ever tried to find a salad bar that is open at three in the morning?) will soon 'pad you out'.

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Comments

Re: Nights (Health)

by venetia at 11:41AM (BST) on Sep 6, 2004 | Permanent Link

I encountered some of your Viennese colleagues on Saturday. It was after the England/Austria match and things started getting a little nasty around the George & Dragon... I've never seen Vienna so chaotic and lawless, I think they were a little unprepared for the Average English Drunkard. Maybe the LAS should organise some master-classes, or at the very least, a video.

Re: Re: Nights (Health)

by Reynolds at 06:26AM (BST) on Sep 7, 2004 | Permanent Link

Perhaps I could set up a sideline business, "Dealing with the English Drunk", I must admit I'm a bit of an expert, practice does, after all make perfect. Maybe sell instructional courses over the internet...

Re: Nights (Health)

by Anonymous at 11:11AM (BST) on Sep 14, 2004 | Permanent Link

You should ignore any study that claims less than a 100% increase in risk, as it is subject to selection bias, publication bias and statistical insignificance. It's only when the increase in risk is over 100% that you can start to think there is a link.

Lots of these studies are done by looking at loads of variables and loads of diseases. Unfortunately, it is a statistical truism that if you look at enough variables and enough outcomes, you will see correlation purely by chance. Unfortunately, the media tend to run with the sillier ones. Also, correlation doesn't imply causation. The cause could be something completely different.

So to sum up, worry about breast cancer, but you're probably okay with colon cancer.

Rgds

Re: Re: Nights (Health)

by Reynolds at 11:21AM (BST) on Sep 14, 2004 | Permanent Link

I would disagree with you there I'm afraid. What you are suggesting that you cannot measure anything that doesn't double your chances.

If that is as far as statistics has come, then a hell of a lot of 'evidence based medicine' can be thrown out the window.

Having had a look at the actual studies, they seem pretty convincing to me...

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