Bad News for Night Owls

[joeq]

Overnight Shift "Probable" Cause of Cancer

The higher cancer rates don't prove working overnight can cause cancer. There may be other factors common among graveyard shift workers that raise their risk for cancer.

However, scientists suspect that overnight work is dangerous because it disrupts the circadian rhythm, the body's biological clock. The hormone melatonin, which can suppress tumor development, is normally produced at night.

If the graveyard shift theory eventually proves correct, millions of people worldwide could be affected. Experts estimate that almost 20 percent of the working population in developed countries work night shifts.

...

[indie]

WOW!! Thanks for posting this. Scary for sure.

[heyheymymy]

Damn. I'm screwed.

[sleestack]

I have the most ****ed up sleeping habits. One month Ill be waking up at 5 in the morning and the next month Ill be waking up 5 PM. I can't control it. I think its genetic cause my Dad is the same way. It is a bitch getting on a day schedule cause I have to stay up for 24 hours in order to get tired enough to go to bed at night. I really hate it and wish I could get help

[Acoustic Cloud]

Valerian root capsules. They work, all natural.

[drakewire]

Great now Im triple screwed... I smoke, I drink, and now I cant work late... Cancer is gonna kill us all

[ZenKen]

It's natural selection making room for young and upcoming engineers and producers who have never worked with tape...

Or it just means the four musicians in the world who are early birds are gonna rule the world (and make lots of happy music).

[joeq]

Originally Posted by Acoustic Cloud

Valerian root capsules. They work, all natural.

they work if your problem is insomnia. how many people work the night shift because they can't sleep, and how many work it because that's the time they want to be awake?

speaking only for myself here, I have no trouble sleeping. I get my 7 or 8 hours.... From four or five - until noon

[Watersound]

Oh boy...

[CorkyTart]

Just booze it up, that will knock you out.

[theblue1]

If you're naturally inclined to work at night, I wouldn't sweat it.

This is about people who have to work at times that are not natural to them. Studies have shown higher accident and suicide rates for graveyard shift workers for decades. It's even worse for people who are force to change shifts frequently.

This is about fighting your body. If you're naturally inclined to late hourse, I wouldn't sweat it.

[Kenny Gioia]

Originally Posted by theblue1

If you're naturally inclined to work at night, I wouldn't sweat it.

This is about people who have to work at times that are not natural to them. Studies have shown higher accident and suicide rates for graveyard shift workers for decades. It's even worse for people who are force to change shifts frequently.

This is about fighting your body. If you're naturally inclined to late hourse, I wouldn't sweat it.

Great point. Especially the last part. Don't sweat it.

Stress kills more people than all these "other factors".

If I had to work normal hours it would kill me much quicker. Be happy. You'll live longer.

That's why so many health nuts die young and people smoking two packs a day live til 90.

The health concerned are worried about their health daily. The smoker couldn't care less.

[SergioS]

Well, what would all those scientists be worth for if they didn't produce some shocking and alarming global warnings? They have to produce all kinds of conclusions becouse they get paid to do just that(by various interest groups). I've seen through the years some unbelivable "researches" done by serious scientists(one of my jobs is music editor on national TV-for years now they have an broadcast on weekly basis that covers various scientists' experiments and researches). Some are really useful, but most are unbelivably silly.
Anyway, I agree with blue1 and don't mean to depreciate people who work night shifts, but vaste majority of "night shift" workers who got "regular jobs" aren't quite satisfied with work they got. I think that has to do with cancer more than "night shifting".

P.s. I come in studio ATA 10am., get off at 18-19pm. I'm definetivly not night shifter, so I'm not defending my biorhytm.

[EJW]

Originally Posted by sleestack

I have the most ****ed up sleeping habits. One month Ill be waking up at 5 in the morning and the next month Ill be waking up 5 PM. I can't control it. I think its genetic cause my Dad is the same way. It is a bitch getting on a day schedule cause I have to stay up for 24 hours in order to get tired enough to go to bed at night. I really hate it and wish I could get help

Same here. It's nearly 2am right now, I'll probably fall asleep at 3 am, wake up at 8, stay up until about 6 or 7 and then take 3 hour nap. The next day, I won't sleep at all and then sleep 14 hours when I fall asleep the day after that. Oh well, I'm not too bothered by it .

Doesn't everything cause cancer these days anyway?

[chrispick]

Yeah, there's really no need for concern. From the article...

"And to put the risk in perspective, the 'probable carcinogen' tag means that the link between overnight work and cancer is merely plausible."

Plausible.

That's a far walk from conclusive.

Just one of this week's button-pusher headlines. Less substantive news, more ad revenue generator.

Water cooler talk. Pays news folks' bills.

I think there may be merit to the scientific study. Quality of sleep definitely factors into good health.

I don't grant much merit to its media coverage though.

[vernier]

That article is bull.

[tarnationsauce]

Ouch. I work 8pm - 8am.

[sleestack]

Originally Posted by Produceher

Great point. Especially the last part. Don't sweat it.

Stress kills more people than all these "other factors".

If I had to work normal hours it would kill me much quicker. Be happy. You'll live longer.

That's why so many health nuts die young and people smoking two packs a day live til 90.

The health concerned are worried about their health daily. The smoker couldn't care less.

While that is hilarious,.. I doubt thats true. You must be a smoker in denial. Sure there is that 90 year old lady that still smokes everyone hears about, but the vast majority of people meet an early death because of smoking. (George Harrison, my Grandfather, my other Grandfather). My grandma and her second marriage husband are in their mid 80's because they watch what they eat, go to the doctor for preventative care ( naval officer health care) they exercise (golf, no cart), and quit smoking back during the Carter administration. My Grandmother is also an asshole. Assholes seem to live the longest. I really believe that.

Charlie Rose show on sleep

A panel discussion about sleep with guest host Paul Nurse - Charlie Rose

[Sigma]

the health risk of the month club

bad colesterol..good colesterol. saturated fat, blah blah blah....most of the younger [under 65] people i know who died young had parents who died young too [and with the same diseases]..while envirnmental issues and cultural habits do contribute to overall health the GENES are the biggest area dictating life expectency

yeah breath in a few grains of pultonium and ya die..smoke 2 packs a day and ya prob will at least get emphasyma... but errrrr

we had an engineer who got testicular cancer ..was it because his nuts were under the console's electric field for a decade? read the answer in next months health alert

[88fingerz]

Originally Posted by sleestack

My Grandmother is also an asshole.]

WOW! I've never in all my years seen these words together in a sentence. Sorry to hear this. Sad, spooky...OY!

[vixapphire]

Originally Posted by SergioS

Well, what would all those scientists be worth for if they didn't produce some shocking and alarming global warnings? They have to produce all kinds of conclusions becouse they get paid to do just that(by various interest groups). I've seen through the years some unbelivable "researches" done by serious scientists(one of my jobs is music editor on national TV-for years now they have an broadcast on weekly basis that covers various scientists' experiments and researches). Some are really useful, but most are unbelivably silly.
Anyway, I agree with blue1 and don't mean to depreciate people who work night shifts, but vaste majority of "night shift" workers who got "regular jobs" aren't quite satisfied with work they got. I think that has to do with cancer more than "night shifting".

P.s. I come in studio ATA 10am., get off at 18-19pm. I'm definetivly not night shifter, so I'm not defending my biorhytm.

+1. the blue1's correct, and so's Sergio w/r/t this "pseudoscience" nonsense. personally, i've gone beyond annoyance to amusement at the "chicken little" scenarios broadcast almost weekly by our vaunted elite "scientific community". bollocks on stilts, for the most part.

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by Produceher

Great point. Especially the last part. Don't sweat it.

Stress kills more people than all these "other factors".

If I had to work normal hours it would kill me much quicker. Be happy. You'll live longer.

That I agree with.

That's why so many health nuts die young and people smoking two packs a day live til 90.

The health concerned are worried about their health daily. The smoker couldn't care less.

This I completely DISAGREE with.

There is then knee jerk reaction to anything scientific in America (the world?) these days. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater here. Smoking WILL KILL YOU. Period.

Also Kenny where is your proof that "health nuts" die young?

Look, others have said this already on this thread but let's get some perspective here.

Some people are NATUARLLY night folks. I am one of them. All things being equal I would wake at noon and go to bed at 4:00 AM.

If you actually take the time to... you know.... READ the article folks you will see that it says "scientists suspect that overnight work is dangerous because it disrupts the circadian rhythm."

If my natural cycle is to be a night person then staying up at night is not disrupting my natural cycle at all. In that case, working 9 - 5 is probably bad for MY cycle. It just happens to be that most folks working the graveyard shift are day people.

What you are reading here is a condensed, dumbed down for the masses scientific report. That does not mean the science is wrong, it means they issued this report in layman's terms.

What they are really saying is if...

1) you are a day person by nature
2) you work nights on the weekdays
3) you are up during the day on the weekends

then you are messing up your circadian rhythm and when you mess up your circadian rhythm you are at a higher risk of developing cancer.

Easy, no need to attack the science behind that finding. Attack the news outlets or attack the stupidity of the general population for not understanding basic science principals but the science is sound.

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by vixapphire

+1. the blue1's correct, and so's Sergio w/r/t this "pseudoscience" nonsense. personally, i've gone beyond annoyance to amusement at the "chicken little" scenarios broadcast almost weekly by our vaunted elite "scientific community". bollocks on stilts, for the most part.

The same "scientific community" discovered the science for and developed the methods to produce the cell phone you talk on, the the car you drive, the studio equipment you use, the CAT scan equipment that might some day save your life and the Internet that you and I are speaking on today.

That is just a small fraction of the things these "vaunted elite" folks have brought to you but I don't see you complaining about this do I?

Look, science is NOT the problem here. The issue is the media and how things are reported to the barley educated general public. In the end the problem is the knee jerk reaction to science such as yours that cause us to shun real eduction.

BW Online | March 16, 2004 | America's Failure in Science Education

"Until now, America has compensated for its failure to adequately educate the next generation by importing brainpower. In 2000, a stunning 38% of U.S. jobs requiring a PhD in science or technology were filled by people who were born abroad, up from 24% in 1990, according to the NSB. Similarly, doctoral positions at the nation's leading universities are often filled with foreign students."

*snip*

"Here's where the problem begins with science education: By the time U.S. students reach their senior year of high school, they rank below their counterparts in 17 other countries in math and science literacy, according to the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, completed in 1996-97, the largest international study of student achievement ever conducted. In physics, U.S. high school seniors scored last among 16 countries tested. "

[night shift]

So my question to you would be:

would you guys rather be a Bob or a Jimi and dead in your thirties, or a janitor living to age 99?

[night shift]

... and by the way, I'm quad f##%ed cause I also work with radioactive sources....

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by night shift

So my question to you would be:

would you guys rather be a Bob or a Jimi and dead in your thirties, or a janitor living to age 99?

I would rather be Jimi living to age 99.... it isn't really an all or nothing proposition as people make it out to be.

[ImJohn]

I think the whole circadian rhythm / 24 hour biological clock is mostly if not totally BS!

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by ImJohn

I think the whole circadian rhythm / 24 hour biological clock is mostly if not totally BS!

And what do you base that on?

[jdg]

i was diagnosed with cancer last fall, went thru 3mo of chemo.. now i am cancer free (almost to my 1yr aniv!)

but, i worked night shift in my early 20s for almost 2yrs! (CD and Video duplication tech)

makes me wonder. srsly

[joeq]

Originally Posted by jdg

now i am cancer free (almost to my 1yr aniv!)

thumbsup

but, i worked night shift in my early 20s for almost 2yrs! (CD and Video duplication tech)

makes me wonder. srsly

as the article tried to make clear, these are statistical linkages, not proof of cause and effect. It might be, for example, that a disproportionate percentage of night jobs involve toxic chemicals or other industrial hazards compared to day jobs. That would swing the statistics to appear as if the night jobs themselves were the cause.

These types of studies try to control for these variations, but nobody can ever be sure.

There are so many potential causes of cancer, from things you can do something about, like smoking, to things you can do nothing about, like cosmic rays. The list is so long that as you make an effort to avoid one thing, you will almost inevitably find yourself moving closer to something else.

This does not negate the value of science in assessing and avoiding risk.

It's just that exposure to some risk is inevitable.