Nowadays humans tend to stay up during the entire day and sleep at night for approximately 8 hours. The brain has a very small part known as the circadian clock which continuously observes the quantity of light in the environment. When it starts to get dark in the evening, this change is observed by the circadian clock and it releases a hormone known as melatonin which makes us sleepy. During the night time the quantity of melatonin remains very high and it gradually decreases at the daytime.
The reason for us staying awake during the entire day is that in the daytime, the quantity of different chemicals like acetylcholine and noradrenaline increases in our body due to which we stay awake. This entire system helps in coordinating with the cycle of day and night. Many other body functions like temperature, blood pressure, digestion and heart rate are also managed by our circadian clock.
The rate at which all of these activities change within a period of twenty four hours is called the circadian rhythm. So that is why if a person works at night then he puts his health in great jeopardy as he is going against his circadian rhythm.
Research has shown that shiftwork can prove to be very hazardous for your health and it can also lead to various disorders like, obesity, cardiovascular disease, mood changes, gastrointestinal problems, and cancer. Furthermore, the sleep deprivation because of the shiftwork can also lead to epilepsy. The shift workers tend to sleep very less as compared to other workers as they usually sleep in 2 split periods like a couple of hours during the day and in the night before leaving for work. Most of the night workers face difficulty in sleeping during the day as it is very hard to retain a noise free, cool and dark sleeping environment.
In order to keep up with their routine, most of the night workers rotate their shifts. For instance some of the people rotate forward through morning, afternoon and then night shift, which is considerably better than moving backwards. The frequency of theses rotations is also dubious. For example, most of the people prefer rotations that are prolonged such as 4 to 5 weeks. While others prefer rotations that are much shorter like 2 to 3 days. Both of these rotations have some positive and negative aspects.
The quantity of hours in a shift is also questionable. It is often said that a twelve hour rotation shift can greatly stretch the tolerance level of a human body. So it is vital that you don’t do any overtime during a twelve hour rotation shift. If a person who works night shifts or rotating shifts has a difficulty sleeping even in the daytime then this is usually because of a disorder known as shiftwork sleep. In certain cases this can be treated with the help of a technique known as stimulant therapy. However, if you still have a difficulty in sleeping even after the stimulant therapy then you need to seek medical assistance.
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