Graveyard Shift May Cause Cancer



Is working graveyard shift dangerous to your health? Maybe so, if scientists for the International Agency for Research on Cancer are right:

Like UV rays and diesel exhaust fumes, working the graveyard shift will soon be listed as a "probable" cause of cancer.

It is a surprising step validating a concept once considered wacky. And it is based on research that finds higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and men whose work day starts after dark.

Next month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, will add overnight shift work as a probable carcinogen.

I am so doomed (but still can’t resist putting the O RLY "night owl" photo): Link - via Blue’s News


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Posted on November 30, 2007 at 1:31 pm by Alex
Category: Medicine

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3 comments to "Graveyard Shift May Cause Cancer"

  • emptyminded
    November 30th, 2007 at 6:04 pm

    But I work night shift on the oncology floor of my hospital. Does that give me any credit or anything?

  • yorik
    November 30th, 2007 at 7:47 pm

    Too much UV rays might cause cancer but moderate UV light in turns generates natural vitamin D in the skin which is well known to PREVENT cancer. (Isn’t it cool how the body evolved to respond to negative stimulus?) The reason behind this is probably that the nightshift staff gets no sunlight at all, and hence no vitamin D.

    Aren’t researchers dumb? The answer is so simple!

  • Gemina
    November 30th, 2007 at 9:09 pm

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