If people sleep for under that amount, they will incur “sleep debt.” The only way to pay back sleep debt is to catch up on missed sleep, which has to occur as soon as possible. Similarly, when you go home after a night shift, the cues from your internal body clock and daytime light exposure tell you to be awake and active.Īdults need between 7–9 hours of sleep to function at their best. Night shifts cause the body to battle against its natural rhythms by trying to be alert when programmed to be sleeping. At night, the circadian pacemaker releases the sleep hormone melatonin from the pineal gland, which causes the body to feel less alert and raises the desire to sleep. Many bodily processes that are active in the daytime slow down at night to prepare for sleep. The SCN generates circadian rhythms, which regulate behavioral and physiological processes in the body, including alertness, sleep, temperature control, and hormone production.Ĭircadian rhythms run in 24-hour cycles and are significantly influenced by the natural light and dark cycles. The body is controlled by an internal body clock, or circadian pacemaker, located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. This is because humans are designed to sleep at nighttime. Some people can work at night without issue, while others experience sleep deprivation and fatigue.

Here are Medical News Today‘s coping strategies for working after dark. Finding ways to cope can be the difference between living a healthy existence and being subjected to the many elevated health and safety risks during night shifts. People need to work through the night for numerous reasons. The suppression of melatonin - the hormone responsible for regulating the internal body clock - may play a role. Night shift work may also interfere with the body’s ability to repair DNA damage from normal cellular processes.

These include an increased risk of metabolic problems, heart disease, gastrointestinal difficulties, obesity, and certain cancers.Ī study published by the American Association for Cancer Research found that for every 5 years of night shift work, the risk of breast cancer rises by 3.3%. What is more, a poll by American analytics company Gallup showed that almost 4 in 10 adults said they work at least 50 hours every week.Īccording to the National Sleep Foundation, there is a link between shift work and long working hours and several health issues. Image Source/Getty Imagesĭue to our modern 24-hour society, nearly 15 million people in the United States work full-time night shifts, evening shifts, rotational shifts, or other such irregular schedules. Share on Pinterest Healthcare professionals often have to work night shifts and have long duty hours.

The graveyard shift