Monday, March 08, 2021

Research offers insights on how night shift work increases cancer risk


https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/wsu-roi030521.php

 

News Release 8-Mar-2021
Washington State University

 

New clues as to why night shift workers are at increased risk of developing certain types of cancer are presented in a new study conducted at Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane.

Published online in the Journal of Pineal Research, the study involved a controlled laboratory experiment that used healthy volunteers who were on simulated night shift or day shift schedules. Findings from the study suggest that night shifts disrupt natural 24-hour rhythms in the activity of certain cancer-related genes, making night shift workers more vulnerable to damage to their DNA while at the same time causing the body's DNA repair mechanisms to be mistimed to deal with that damage.

Though more research still needs to be done, these discoveries could someday be used to help prevent and treat cancer in night shift workers.


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