Working Nights

Per World Health Organization – 40% of Cancers are Preventable

According to the World Health Organization, cancer is responsible for one out of every eight deaths worldwide.  Over 20% are related to viruses, like the  human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes cervical cancer, or hepatitis infections that cause stomach and liver cancer.  Read more at The Boston Globe.

Why is this especially important to shift workers?  Because shift workers’ are more prone to smoke, drink alcohol to cope with working shifts, and they are less likely to focus on maintaining good nutrition.  To avoid cancers in the lungs, colon, and breasts, people should  stop smoking, limit their alcohol consumption, avoid too much sun, and maintain a healthy weight through diet and exercise.

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New Shift Work Information on Weight Loss and Apnea, Craving a Smoke, and the Combined Effects of Caffeine and Alcohol

During the last month three new studies potentially impacting a number of shift workers have been released. Here are the top level findings:

1. A dramatic weight loss can improve moderate to severe sleep apnea in obese men.

2. Craving a cigarette while performing a cognitive task increases the chances of a person’s mind wandering and they don’t even realize it is happening.

3. Drinking a cup of coffee may actually make it harder for people to realize they’re drunk.

Read on to understand why these are important studies for shift workers.
Read this article…

The Problem of Migraines and Shift Work

Each year upwards of 90% of the U.S. population will feel headache pain and 13% will suffer from a migraine. Nearly 30 million Americans have migraines. Researchers from Johns Hopkins, after pooling results from 21 studies, involving 622,381 men and women, have found that migraine headaches are associated with more than double the likelihood of the most common kind of stroke – those occurring when blood supply to the brain is suddenly cut off by the buildup of plaque or a blood clot.

The National Headache Association estimates that headaches cost up to $17 billion dollars in absenteeism, lost productivity, and medical expenses each year. Ninety percent of respondents to a NHA 2008 survey indicated that headaches affected their work performance. Migraines are triggered by many different issues such as stress, environmental factors (e.g. lighting and eye strain), depression, or certain foods and some medications. One major factor in the development of migraines is lack of sleep.

Are shift workers more likely to suffer from migraines?
Read this article…

November is National Heartburn Month! Is this Something to Celebrate?

Do you feel bloated?  Is your stomach is churning day and night?  To alleviate your heartburn and acid indigestion, do you regularly pop antacid pills?  If your answers are yes, you’re not alone.  People who work shifts often suffer from gastrointestinal (GI) disease.  In fact, up to 75% of night workers have G.I. problems – and peptic ulcers are up to 5 times more frequent.  Nearly 40% of shift workers report taking antacids several times a month.[i]  According to the National Heartburn Alliance (NHBA), over 25 million Americans suffer from heartburn on a daily basis and most of them attribute it to the foods they eat.    

So, if you’re one of the 25 million, or your best buddy or spouse is, what can you do to get help? 

Read this article…

Slowing Down the Aging Process – Tips for Shift Workers

Life expectancy has been increasing year after year in many countries, including the U.S. However the U.S. ranks 42nd in life expectancy but number one in health care costs per capita. Clearly this has gotten the attention of the Obama administration. Question is whether this significant issue will be solved by focusing more on health care prevention, limiting access to care once chronic health issues are diagnosed, by better managing how diagnoses are determined or by all of these things. Shift workers have unique challenges that need to be managed proactively by workers, employers, insurance companies, and medical practitioners.
Read this article…

Shiftworkers, Take a Deep Breath- Reducing the Risk of Lung Disease

On a normal day, we breathe nearly 25,000 times; the air we breathe in contains mostly oxygen and nitrogen. But air also has things in it that can hurt our lungs; bacteria, viruses, tobacco smoke, car exhaust, and other pollutants can be in the air. People with lung disease have difficulty breathing. These breathing problems may even prevent the body from getting enough oxygen.

A low oxygen level puts excess stress on the entire body, but especially on the heart. When oxygen levels are low, pressures inside the heart increase; the heart muscle becomes enlarged and does not pump as it should, resulting in heart failure. It has been well documented that degenerative diseases, including cancer and premature aging, start with low oxygen levels in the body. Also, as we age, we lose vital capacity and the ability to effectively obtain adequate oxygen. After age 25 we lose 10% lung (respiratory) capacity every 10 years, due to shallow breathing.

Lung disease is responsible for one in seven deaths in the United States each year. More than 35 million Americans are living with chronic lung disease including asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Other diseases impacting the lung include lung cancer, tuberculosis, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS, pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis (inflammation producing tiny lumps of cells in various organs, including the lungs), and influenza. Lung disease and breathing problems are the number one killer of babies younger than one year old. Read this article…

Smoking and Disturbed Sleep

For a shift worker in need of a good night’s sleep, a relaxing smoke or a soothing cigarette break on the porch is not the answer. Smoking has been linked with less restful sleeping by the American College of Chest Physicians, and a less restful sleep at night is one thing that extended hours workers do not need. Shift workers, especially those on the night shift, already get less sleep than day workers, and this inequity is only compounded since a far greater percentage of shift workers smoke than in the overall population. Suffering from sleep apnea, feeling fatigued at work, complaining about getting a whole four hours of sleep and waking up tired? Don’t let the smoke get in your eyes about solutions. Read this article…

Shift Work and Worker Health: Beyond the Shift Work and Cancer Tie

Over twenty percent of the U.S. workforce holds jobs that the World Health Organization now considers possible causes of cancer. Most people who work extended hours, shifts, or nights have probably already seen the “Graveyard Shift Soon to Be Listed As ‘Probable’ Cause of Cancer” article, and gotten appropriately nervous. But, for the bad news before the good, shift work brings health risks that go far beyond the big threat of cancer. The good news is that shift work does not automatically cause cancer, of course, and many habits common among shift workers have long been known to increase the risk of cancer. So, certain lifestyle changes can quickly cause your risk of cancer, and other diseases and chronic problems, to plummet. Read this article…

Shift Workers May Need to Pay Special Attention to Sodium and Potassium Levels

Fast and processed food pumps more sodium into our diet every day than our body was meant to handle. For shift workers that rely on the comfort and reliability fast food offers on the way to or from a shift, sodium sneaks in and can wreak havoc on a body throughout the years. Many people think that if they avoid sprinkling too much salt on their meals, sodium won’t be a problem, but unfortunately this is not the case. Shift workers face additional challenges from the normal fast food-eater, since the high levels of caffeine many shift workers drink reduces hydration, further throwing off the sodium balance, and many effects of too much sodium such as weight gain, low energy, aching muscles, and chronic fatigue are already felt by shift workers for other job-related reasons. Your body relies on potassium to balance out sodium content, a goal that is clearly extremely important for extended hours workers. This article will show you how to tell if you have a problem, and lay out tips for keeping you body balanced and what foods to eat to increase potassium levels. Read this article…

Restless Legs Syndrome and Its Connection to Shift Work

For shift workers slumping into bed after a long night shift or extended hours work day, a pain that feels like a burning iron on your leg is not the feeling you were hoping for. Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), a chronic problem sometimes unnoticed by health care, affects almost 10 percent of the population, yet it is still a misunderstood and often forgotten disorder. A shiftwork lifestyle causes workers to face a much greater risk for Restless Leg Syndrome than the normal population. Restless Leg Syndrome often goes undiagnosed for up to twenty years after it rears its ugly head, causing pain, lack of sleep, and irritation, but people can work their way towards recovery. It is important for shift workers to arm themselves with knowledge of RLS and its symptoms, so that they can avoid unnecessary harm. Read this article…

Vision Problems for Shift Workers

The generational issues that are beginning to affect the whole country as Baby Boomers age are reaching into the shift work population as well. Managers and co-workers will have to understand specific needs of an aging workforce, especially issues with sight and vision. As the population of shiftworkers age, vision issues will continue to further plague the shiftwork population and their employers. Shiftworkers may complain of blurred or distorted vision. Workers should be educated about the risk factors and prevention of vision disorders, how to identify the major disorders, and what the treatment options are.

Read this article…