Is working at night bad for you?

• The impact of shift work might be that it is harder to eat healthily. A good meal is harder to find, and you're probably not feeling like a salad when you're trying to keep yourself awake.
• There is less opportunity for exercise when you've been up all night.
• Researchers found that pilots who worked the early shift had higher levels of cortisol. In the long-term, high levels of cortisol are associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure.
• Other research found that after three days of night shifts, the expression of genes began to be active at the wrong time of day.
• After five weeks, people who stayed awake at night and slept during the day showed impaired glucose regulation and changes in metabolism.

Research is not yet able to clarify if there are long-term effects for people who can adapt to night shifts or if there are risks for everyone working shifts.

Until we know more about exactly who is at risk, those who work at night would be wise to eat healthily, exercise, and look out for early signs of these risks.