The Trouble with Working Night Shifts
A new study from York University in Canada suggests that working night shifts or having a constantly changing work schedule might be bad for your brain, especially as you get older.
These types of schedules mess with your body’s internal clock, known as your circadian rhythm. This might sound complicated, but it simply means the natural cycle that tells your body when it’s time to sleep, eat, or be active.
Earlier studies have shown that shift work can be hard on your health, but this new study wanted to look specifically at how these odd work hours might affect your brain.
The researchers used information from a large Canadian study that involved 47,811 adults, focusing on their work schedules and the results of tests that measured their brain function.
What Did the Study Find?
About one in five people in the study said they’d worked some kind of shift work during their career.
The researchers found that people who reported working night shifts were more likely to have problems with brain functions like memory and other higher-level activities like problem-solving.
Specifically, people who currently worked or had mostly worked night shifts were 1.5 to 1.8 times more likely to show signs of these cognitive problems compared to those who worked regular daytime hours.
In simpler terms, working night shifts or shifts that keep changing might throw off your body’s natural rhythm and lead to issues with your brain functions. This was particularly true for middle-aged and older adults in the study.
Why Does This Matter?
The researchers say that the findings raise some red flags about the long-term impact of night or rotating shift work on the brain.
Durdana Khan, who led the study, mentioned that disrupting our body’s natural cycle could contribute to brain problems as we age.
However, she also says that more research is needed to be sure of this link and to understand why it happens.
If you’ve spent a lot of time working night shifts or changing work schedules, this doesn’t mean you’re doomed to have brain problems.
But it does suggest that this kind of work might have some long-term risks that we should be aware of.
This study adds to growing evidence that paying attention to our body’s natural rhythms could be important for maintaining good health as we age.
So, it might be a good idea to think twice about that night shift job or to take extra steps to look after your health if you can’t avoid it.
If you care about brain health, please read studies about low choline intake linked to higher dementia risk, and how eating nuts can affect your cognitive ability.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that blueberry supplements may prevent cognitive decline, and results showing higher magnesium intake could help benefit brain health.
The study was published in PLOS ONE.
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