Graveyard shift = cancer?

[CaroPhoenix]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071130/...t_shift_cancer

[Gravekeeper]

I saw that. ><

[Lil Bunny]

I read that yesterday and immediately thought of CS. Odd eh?

I enjoyed how the article basically said that these types of reports were crap but hey, here's the story anyhow.

[blas]

If this is true and does go into effect, cheapass places like the factory I work at are just going to risk the monetary loss and get rid of night shift. They already are taking steps to make us quit "wasting" insurance money, they sure don't want us "wasting" money when we get cancer!

[Kara]

I saw that. ><

Don't worry. I'm sure either the heart attack from high blood pressure or the mental breakdown causing you to shove a pencil through your eye and into your brain (common deaths associated with call center work) will kill you long before cancer

[MystyGlyttyr]

I thought being out in the sun gave you cancer. But now being in the dark gives you cancer.

See, this is why I long ago decided EVERYTHING gives you cancer. So I just do pretty much whatever the hell I want anyway. Like is much easier.

[Emrld]

I have a post card that is white with a black border and black lettering "Surgeon General Warning: Just about anything at anytime can be hazardous to your health."

I also remember an episode of Penn and Teller's Show BS debunking the report that smoke / second hand smoke causes cancer and is addictive.They pretty much said that you can pay enough money to have test results end up the way you want them to. I have to wonder if their isn't some truth to that with the way that test A gives information and the test B gives the exact opposite results.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

The article's title is very misleading. I'm a GY worker too, so I read it carefully.

A more accurate title for the article would be "Working at night over long periods of time can lower your body's ability to fight tumor development."

But of course that wouldn't have the punch the first one does.

Basically, it says

#1) studies have shown that disrupting your body's circadian rhythm causes it problems. Animals who have had their circadian rhythms disrupted developed more cancerous tumors and died from them earlier.

#2) Lack of light causes your body to start producing a hormone called melatonin, which scientists know helps fight off cancer. Not getting that period of darkness regularly keeps your body from producing melatonin. Heh. Any GY worker worth their salt knows the importance of blackout curtains!

and #3) night workers often suffer from a lack of sleep, and sleep deprivation is also known to lower the body's defenses.

Honestly, most of it is common sense.

[Broomjockey]

That's pretty much up there with "The leading cause of death is dying" or "Studies have shown that the leading cause of tumours in white rats is researchers."

[Saydrah]

Well, they could just as easily say huge amounts of stress cause cancer, since they studied only nurses and airline crews, easily among the most abused employees out there.