Shift work and metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus and ischaemic heart disease

Abstract

Shift work is affecting 20% to 25% employees and is becoming increasingly prevalent in contemporary life all over Europe and USA. It is associated with several health problems, such as e.g. metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. These diseases are possibly due to an impairment of biological rhythm. The metabolic syndrome is a complex of interrelated risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Higher prevalence of the metabolic syndrome has been demonstrated among shift workers. Rotating shift work has an impact on each component of metabolic syndrome. Shift work might also have an impact on metabolic variables, and be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Only a few studies reported prevalence of impaired glucose metabolism and diabetes mellitus in relation to shift work. There is rather strong evidence in favour of association between shift work and coronary heart disease and that has been repeatedly demonstrated during over 20 years of research. Recent data increasingly reveal relations between shift work and plasma resistin, ghrelin, leptin and adiponectin.

Analysis of job stress in workers employed by three public organizations in Serbia

“…The obtained results are not shown in any of the tables. important risk factor for metabolic syndrome [32], particularly in shift workers [16,33,34]. However, our study did not confirm the presence of any association between incidence of metabolic/endocrine diseases and exposure to different categories of job stress.…”

“…Job stress -an important entity of chronic stress, has also been analyzed as a possible cause of numerous disorders/ diseases. Thus, job stress has been assessed with regard to high blood pressure [7,8], coronary heart disease [9-16], various metabolic disorders [16][17][18], depression [19] and so on. However, published results concerning association between job stress and health-related problems are not consistent.…”

21st International Symposium on Shiftwork and Working Time: The 24/7 Society – From chronobiology to practical life

“…According to the literature, shiftwork is associated with a high prevalence of a number of noncommunicable diseases, including obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes (Szosland, 2010). A number of studies aiming to better understand the complex physiological mechanisms involved in this association have been conducted.…”

Sleep and Heat Related Changes in the Cognitive Performance of Underground Miners: A Possible Health and Safety Concern

“…Consequences of working rotating shifts include insomnia [112], an increased prevalence of some types of cancer [113] and cardiovascular disease [114], or shift workers may have adverse outcomes during pregnancy [115], among others. Analysis of EEG recordings taken from rotating shift workers indicate that their day time sleep is 1-4 h shorter than the sleep obtained when the worker is on day shifts [116,117].…”