Night-shifters may have a damaged DNA structure, says study
| Jan 28, 2019, 11:34 IST
Nobody likes doing a night-shift. You work when everybody is sleeping and sleep (not your best sleep) when everyone else is up and about, living their best lives (or at least it seems to be. ) Night shifts make you feel lethargic and cranky, and if recent research is to be believed, that is not the only damage it causes you.
Published in the Anesthesia academic journal, the study warns, lack of proper sleep and night-time wakefulness can cause damage to the structure of the human DNA and lead to many diseases, including cancer and diabetes, as well as cardiovascular, neurological and pulmonary diseases.The study’s findings show that the DNA repair gene expression is lower at baseline among night-shift workers and it decreases further after severe sleep deprivation, which supports the postulation that night workers demonstrate impaired DNA repair.
According to the findings, people who work overnight demonstrate 30% higher DNA breaks as compared with those not required to work overnight, and this DNA damage is further increased by over 25 percent after a night of acute sleep deprivation.
For the purpose of the study, the research team observed a small group of healthy full-time doctors, with an average age between 28 and 33. The participants had donated a sample of blood after three days of adequate sleep.Doctors who worked the night shift then had additional blood sampled the morning after, following acute sleep deprivation.
Hence, the study helps in demonstrating the association between disrupted sleep and DNA damage. If we were you, we would vary about the number of hours we’re getting our sleep.
Published in the Anesthesia academic journal, the study warns, lack of proper sleep and night-time wakefulness can cause damage to the structure of the human DNA and lead to many diseases, including cancer and diabetes, as well as cardiovascular, neurological and pulmonary diseases.The study’s findings show that the DNA repair gene expression is lower at baseline among night-shift workers and it decreases further after severe sleep deprivation, which supports the postulation that night workers demonstrate impaired DNA repair.
According to the findings, people who work overnight demonstrate 30% higher DNA breaks as compared with those not required to work overnight, and this DNA damage is further increased by over 25 percent after a night of acute sleep deprivation.
For the purpose of the study, the research team observed a small group of healthy full-time doctors, with an average age between 28 and 33. The participants had donated a sample of blood after three days of adequate sleep.Doctors who worked the night shift then had additional blood sampled the morning after, following acute sleep deprivation.
Hence, the study helps in demonstrating the association between disrupted sleep and DNA damage. If we were you, we would vary about the number of hours we’re getting our sleep.