A new study conducted by researchers at Washington State University has found new clues as to why night shift workers may be at increased risk of developing certain types of cancer compared to those who work regular daytime hours.
Findings suggest that night shifts disrupt natural 24-hour rhythms in the activity of certain cancer-related genes, making night shift workers more vulnerable to DNA damage while also causing the body’s DNA repair mechanisms to be mistimed to deal with that damage.
Published online in the Journal of Pineal Research, the study involved a controlled laboratory experiment that used healthy volunteers who were on simulated night shift or day shift schedules. Though more research still needs to be done, these discoveries could someday be used to help prevent and treat cancer in night shift workers.
“There has been mounting evidence that cancer is more prevalent in night shift workers, which led the World Health Organisation’s…