Many occupations require employees to work night shifts, such as doctors, nurses, police officers, security guards, flight crews, gas station personnel, etc. While others are sleeping, they are working late at night. The lack of sleep can cause their health to deteriorate. What health issues would they have to deal with, and how can they minimize the damages?
Decreased immunity
When we don’t get a good night’s sleep, we become sluggish the next day and feel particularly tired. Our immune system is low under such circumstances. People who work night shifts have irregular sleep schedules, preventing their immune systems from reaching optimal. A sound immune system is vital to the human body. A compromised immune system can lead to various infectious diseases or malignant tumors.
High blood pressure
People who cannot sleep well are often moody or irritable. Not being able to sleep well can make one agitated and anxious. It also causes excessive secretion of vasoconstrictor hormones, such as adrenaline and norepinephrine, and these two hormones can elevate blood pressure. It’s not a big problem if one loses sleep occasionally, but it can be painful for night shift workers.
Anxiety and insomnia
Many night workers suffer from night shift anxiety disorder. The thought of working late at night makes them feel unwell. Regardless of one’s age, the longer one works the night shift, the more one is prone to anxiety and insomnia. Night shifts disrupt the circadian rhythm, including the sleep-wake cycle, which determines how sleepy or alert one feels.
Slow response and poor memory
You might have experienced this: If you don’t get a good night’s sleep, you’ll feel lethargic the next day. And when others say something or ask you a question, responding might take a while. Our brains work nonstop from the moment we wake up, and we should rest in the evening. But when one works throughout the night and needs to stay awake, the brain doesn’t get any breaks and can’t relax. How can one react in time and have a good memory in the long run?
Health tips
- If working night shifts is unavoidable, there are two ways to minimize the harm caused by working night hours.
- Get enough sleep during the day before working the night shift.
- Rest as soon as the night shift ends, even if you are not tired. This will help recharge the body after being up the entire night. It’s preferable not to oversleep and wake up around noon. Eat a healthy meal afterward, and exercise in the afternoon to stay fit.
- Staying up all night is not healthy. The above recommendations should reduce damage to the body and ensure better health for night shift workers.
- Night shift workers should have regular health checkups to detect signs of illnesses in time.
Translated by Elaine and edited by Amanda
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