![]() ![]() They represent about 10% of the workers attempting night work. They can do so for their entire working life and stay happy and healthy. This being said, it is also important to know that some people have no difficulty working nights. Working at night is abnormal and it is normal to experience all kinds of difficulties with that work schedule. It is not uncommon to observe a sudden intolerance to night work around the age of 40 in workers who have been working nights for 20 years without too much difficulty. Age is also an important factor: as you get older, it gets more difficult to sleep in the daytime. Problems tend to increase in frequency and intensity with a longer exposure to night work, often after 4 or 5 years on a fixed or rotating night schedule. After the first few months, there is no further adaptation to night work. Each time, the small adaptation achieved by the biological clock is cancelled.Ĭontrary to the jet-lag situation, in shiftwork there is an accumulation of the difficulties over days, weeks and years. Second, most night workers, even those who have a permanent night schedule and do not have to rotate between night and day shifts, prefer to return to a day-oriented life when they have some days off. First, even if the worker is awake at night and sleeps during the day, all day-night cues, and especially the light-dark cycle, remain the same and prevent the adaptation of the biological clock. Such an adaptation is extremely rare for the night worker. This syndrome disappears usually in a few days as the biological clock adapts to the new time zone. The constellation of complaints including sleep problems, low alertness levels, digestive difficulties and irritability is called the “jet lag syndrome”. Similar difficulties also happen after air travel crossing multiple time zones. Finally, the fact that other family members and friends are living on a fixed day schedule can be a source of tensions and isolation, further increasing the feelings of irritability and depression. Imbalance in hormonal regulation is another consequence of the reversed sleep-wake schedule and has been associated with metabolic, reproductive and mood difficulties. In the long-term, night workers have also been shown to be at higher risk for cardiovascular disorders. When meal-times are adapted to meet the requirements of a night shift, digestive problems occur and blood cholesterol increases. ![]() It means, for example, that our digestive and metabolic functions are ready to process food during the day and not during the night. The biological clock controls not only the timing of sleep and waking, but also the timing of all physiological and psychological functions. This is the reason why the most frequent complaints reported by shift workers are those of sleep difficulties and fatigue. It is therefore extremely difficult for night workers to sleep in the daytime. Since we are diurnal (day-active) animals, our biological clock sends a powerful signal to keep us awake during the day. Many work schedules affect sleep-wake cycles, but the most demanding ones are those which include a night shift. ![]()
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