If you’ve ever worked at a job where there was shift rotation, you know that night shifts can make you dizzy and lethargic. But did you know that they can also be harmful to your heart?
New studies show exactly why — and it has to do with the “biological clocks” of the brain and heart.
Such clocks can become out of sync due to the change in work rhythm, leaving the heart vulnerable to some kind of dysfunction. And that can be very bad for your health.
regulated beats
Research carried out by the MRC Molecular Biology Laboratory in Cambridge (England) examined the internal biological clock in each heart cell that changes the chemical balance of the cell throughout the day.
Your body needs the heart to work harder when it’s active—and it achieves this by making the heart beat faster.
“The way the heart beats is determined by two things: signals coming from the brain and sodium and potassium levels within each heart cell, which causes the heart to beat,” explained John O’Neill, who led the research, to the BBC.
“In healthy people, these cell clocks are synchronized with each other,” he said. The new study, however, found that when we change work shifts, the brain adapts very quickly, but the biological clock that we have inside each heart cell lags behind.
“You have some days where the signals coming from the brain are out of sync with what the heart is waiting for,” added O’Neill. “And that’s what we believe makes mixed-shift workers more vulnerable when they’re changing shift schedules.”
This increases the risk of a variety of heart problems, particularly during the transition between day and night shifts, although the work shift is just one of many factors that can cause heart problems, including age, gender, family history, and diet.
health risks
“There are a number of adverse cardiac events,” said O’Neill. “The scariest one is called ‘sudden cardiac death,’ where the heart just gets confused and stops working for a while. And unless you get medical care, it can lead to death.”
The good news is that this scenario is very rare. Studies show that shift work, however, increases the risk not only of heart problems, but also digestive disorders, mood disorders, and increased risk of cancer in general, compared to people who work only day shifts.
“The comparison that epidemiologists make is that a disturbance in the circadian rhythm [variação nas funções biológicas] —for example, if you keep switching from day to night shifts— it’s the equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day,” says O’Neill.
This risk has been recognized by some governments. In Denmark, for example, those who have worked night shifts for more than 20 years and develop cancer are entitled to compensation.
In order for us to be physically fit and healthy, all of our biological clocks need to be strongly synchronized with one another. To do this effectively, it’s best to have a daily routine that involves sleeping through the night and eating and working during the day. For millions of workers, however, that option does not exist.
However, sleep experts say we can take several practical steps to help minimize the damage caused by night shifts.
How to deal?
“As human beings, it’s easy for us to set back our internal biological clocks, as well as the master clock in the brain,” says Renata Riha, consultant in sleep and respiratory medicine at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland).
She claims that a shift schedule should start with day shifts, then move to shifts ending later, and finally gradually move to night shifts. Taking night shifts for a longer period of time, at least two weeks, is preferable as it gives your body more time to adjust.
“It takes about a week for all the clocks in the body to change — the master clock, which is responsible for the secretion of melatonin [o hormônio do sono], followed by clocks on all other organs of the body,” says Riha.
She also recommends taking a short nap, 20 to 30 minutes, during a night shift.
On average, an adult needs seven to eight hours of sleep a day, but not every type of sleep is the same. Sleeping during the day can often be a lower quality sleep, depriving the body of much-needed rest.
Riha says night workers should try to sleep once they get home. “Try to sleep in a quiet, cool, dark room. You can cover your eyes with a mask if you don’t have curtains to block out the daylight. You can wear ear plugs.”
“If your room is warm, think of ways to reduce the temperature, like using a cool pillow or a fan. Lowering the temperature makes your body think it’s time for bed.”
deceiving the body
Exercise and a good, balanced diet can also help, but timing is key. Eating and exercising affect clocks directly throughout the body, through changes in the hormone insulin and body temperature, respectively.
We can trick our bodies into accepting new schedules by exposing us to light and having a beefed up “breakfast” before starting your night shift—and then avoiding eating and being exposed to light during the day—your new “night” .
“There is no pill we can take [ao menos por enquanto] that can reset your biological clock to zero, but if you’re switching from a day shift to a night shift, you just need to change your entire daytime routine before starting the night shift — and stick to that altered routine,” he says. O’Neill.
“This will help you adapt more quickly and avoid a lot of unwanted effects.”
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Chad-98Weaver, a distinguished author at NewsBulletin247, excels in the craft of article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a penchant for storytelling, Chad delivers informative and engaging content that resonates with readers across various subjects. His contributions are a testament to his dedication and expertise in the field of journalism.
