The hidden cost of the night shift and how to sleep it off
Summary
Shift work disrupts the body’s internal clock, making it hard for people working at night to sleep well during the day. Scientists are studying how sleep cleans the brain and whether changing sleep patterns can reduce the health risks linked to working night shifts.Key Facts
- The body’s internal clock, shaped by evolution, tells us when to be awake and when to sleep.
- Shift workers often struggle to sleep during the day, even when their work ends in the morning.
- Poor sleep is linked to serious health problems like heart attacks, strokes, cancer, mental illness, and memory loss.
- During sleep, the brain cleans itself by removing waste through a system called the glymphatic system.
- Disrupted sleep may harm this cleaning process, increasing the risk of diseases like dementia.
- Researchers studied brain scans of over 40,000 healthy people and found that poor brain waste drainage predicted dementia years later.
- Some scientists suggest splitting sleep into two parts during the day might help night shift workers rest better.
- Sleep is important for memory, emotional processing, immune health, and muscle repair.
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