Night work 'throws body into chaos'
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Night work 'throws body into chaos'
Doing the night shift throws the body "into chaos" and could cause long-term damage, warn researchers.
Shift work has been linked to higher rates of type 2 diabetes, heart attacks and cancer.
Now scientists at the Sleep Research Centre in Surrey have uncovered the disruption shift work causes at the deepest molecular level.
Experts said the scale, speed and severity of damage caused by being awake at night was a surprise.
The human body has its own natural rhythm or body clock tuned to sleep at night and be active during the day.
It has profound effects on the body, altering everything from hormones and body temperature to athletic ability, mood and brain function.
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This really explains why we feel so bad during jet lag, or if we have to work irregular shifts”
Dr Simon Archer University of Surrey
The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, followed 22 people as their body was shifted from a normal pattern to that of a night-shift worker.
Blood tests showed that normally 6% of genes - the instructions contained in DNA - were precisely timed to be more or less active at specific times of the day.
Once the volunteers were working through the night, that genetic fine-tuning was lost.
Chrono-chaos
"Over 97% of rhythmic genes become out of sync with mistimed sleep and this really explains why we feel so bad during jet lag, or if we have to work irregular shifts," said Dr Simon Archer, one of the researchers at the University of Surrey.
Fellow researcher Prof Derk-Jan Dijk said every tissue in the body had its own daily rhythm, but with shifts that was lost with the heart running to a different time to the kidneys running to a different time to the brain.
He told the BBC: "It's chrono-chaos. It's like living in a house. There's a clock in every room in the house and in all of those rooms those clocks are now disrupted, which of course leads to chaos in the household."
Studies have shown that shift workers getting too little sleep at the wrong time of day may be increasing their risk of type-2 diabetes and obesity.
Others analyses suggest heart attacks are more common in night workers.
Prof Dijk added: "We of course know that shift work and jet lag is associated with negative side effects and health consequences.
"They show up after several years of shift work. We believe these changes in rhythmic patterns of gene expression are likely to be related to some of those long-term health consequences."
Prof Hugh Piggins, a body-clock researcher from the University of Manchester, told the BBC: "The study indicated that the acute effects are quite severe.
"It is surprising how large an effect was noticed so quickly, it's perhaps a larger disruption than might have been appreciated."
He cautioned that it was a short-term study so any lasting changes are uncertain, but "you could imagine this would lead to a lot of health-related problems".
Shift work has been linked to higher rates of type 2 diabetes, heart attacks and cancer.
Now scientists at the Sleep Research Centre in Surrey have uncovered the disruption shift work causes at the deepest molecular level.
Experts said the scale, speed and severity of damage caused by being awake at night was a surprise.
The human body has its own natural rhythm or body clock tuned to sleep at night and be active during the day.
It has profound effects on the body, altering everything from hormones and body temperature to athletic ability, mood and brain function.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
This really explains why we feel so bad during jet lag, or if we have to work irregular shifts”
Dr Simon Archer University of Surrey
The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, followed 22 people as their body was shifted from a normal pattern to that of a night-shift worker.
Blood tests showed that normally 6% of genes - the instructions contained in DNA - were precisely timed to be more or less active at specific times of the day.
Once the volunteers were working through the night, that genetic fine-tuning was lost.
Chrono-chaos
"Over 97% of rhythmic genes become out of sync with mistimed sleep and this really explains why we feel so bad during jet lag, or if we have to work irregular shifts," said Dr Simon Archer, one of the researchers at the University of Surrey.
Fellow researcher Prof Derk-Jan Dijk said every tissue in the body had its own daily rhythm, but with shifts that was lost with the heart running to a different time to the kidneys running to a different time to the brain.
He told the BBC: "It's chrono-chaos. It's like living in a house. There's a clock in every room in the house and in all of those rooms those clocks are now disrupted, which of course leads to chaos in the household."
Studies have shown that shift workers getting too little sleep at the wrong time of day may be increasing their risk of type-2 diabetes and obesity.
Others analyses suggest heart attacks are more common in night workers.
Prof Dijk added: "We of course know that shift work and jet lag is associated with negative side effects and health consequences.
"They show up after several years of shift work. We believe these changes in rhythmic patterns of gene expression are likely to be related to some of those long-term health consequences."
Prof Hugh Piggins, a body-clock researcher from the University of Manchester, told the BBC: "The study indicated that the acute effects are quite severe.
"It is surprising how large an effect was noticed so quickly, it's perhaps a larger disruption than might have been appreciated."
He cautioned that it was a short-term study so any lasting changes are uncertain, but "you could imagine this would lead to a lot of health-related problems".
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I can just see it now....
Mangerment would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge this groundbreaking study.
Mangerment further emphasises that Cathay Pilots are special, and they are unequivocally NOT affected by these results, nor indeed by the shift work so mentioned.
We thank them for their efforts and look forward to implementing the new FTL's soon, which will improve productivity and greatly reduce time off between flights."
Thankyou
The Mangerment
Mangerment would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge this groundbreaking study.
Mangerment further emphasises that Cathay Pilots are special, and they are unequivocally NOT affected by these results, nor indeed by the shift work so mentioned.
We thank them for their efforts and look forward to implementing the new FTL's soon, which will improve productivity and greatly reduce time off between flights."
Thankyou
The Mangerment
Wow!
So short haul into China is healthier than CX long haul to cool destination like MXP, CDG. Apart from or offset by the crew hotels, water, food, air etc in China.
Long may mainlanders resist getting up early or flying late.
So short haul into China is healthier than CX long haul to cool destination like MXP, CDG. Apart from or offset by the crew hotels, water, food, air etc in China.
Long may mainlanders resist getting up early or flying late.
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I have always maintained that Long Range Flying is meant only for Migratory birds 
But yes I do enjoy great layovers in cities like New York , Hong Kong , London etc.
Jet lag is part of the deal unfortunately - Coupled with booze and late night partying one can only imagine the negative effects on the body.
But yes I do enjoy great layovers in cities like New York , Hong Kong , London etc.
Jet lag is part of the deal unfortunately - Coupled with booze and late night partying one can only imagine the negative effects on the body.
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And this is why FTL's are designed NOT with the input of pilots. They're such a big secret they cannot be revealed to thevgroup they most effect, other than the shareholders, I guess.
