How shift work damages your brain
Study finds that irregular working hours could be causing long-term damage to memory and brain function
Working unusual hours can do more than damage your social life; research has found it can prematurely age your brain.
A study published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine has revealed that a decade of shift work could age the brain by more than six years.
Researchers conducted the study on 3232 employed and retired workers, who were aged 32, 42, 52 and 62 at the time of the first measurement, and were seen again five and 10 years later. Participants completed tests of speed and memory, which were assessed at all three intervals.
The results revealed that working unsocial hours was connected to “impaired cognition”, and the association was strongest in those who had been working for longer than a decade. For those participants, their cognitive loss was the equivalent of 6.5 years of age-related decline.
They also discovered that cognitive functioning could recover after having left shift work, although it took at least five years to reverse.
It’s not the first time the health effects of shift work have been highlighted. Like chronic jetlag, it’s known to disrupt your normal circadian rhythms and associated with an increased risk of health problems such as obesity, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. One 2014 study even found that shift work can increase the risk of type-2 diabetes in men by 37 per cent.
According to lead study author Dr Jean Claude Marquié from the University of Toulouse, these latest findings show that shift workers’ health should be closely monitored.
“The cognitive impairment observed in the present study may have important safety concerns not only for the individuals concerned, but also for society as a whole given the increasing number of jobs in high-hazard situations that are performed at night,” he wrote.
“The findings highlight the importance of maintaining a medical surveillance of shift workers, especially of those who have remained in shift work for 10 years or more.”
Per courtesy, Prevention Magazine
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