Night is not right: Working nights can cause cancer

NIGHT SHIFTS CARCINOGENIC: The night disrupts the circadian rhythm or the body's biological clock.

ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos
be a Citizen Journalist. Log on to m.ibnlive.com NOW!

Related Stories

• Graveyard shift workers at higher risk of cancer

• Working in graveyard shift? You may be at cancer risk

• Cancer rate may surge in Asia

Top Headlines

Top Videos

Most Popular

• Gujarat dry status an ideological hangover? 

• India dry, Pawar says well-stocked for 13 months | Drought diary 

• Manmohan, Gilani fix up meeting without a date 

• India puts it in writing: Pak planned 26/11 

• Burger King apologises to Hindus for offensive ad 

• SC takes up plea against gay sex, issues notice 

• Suspected Dawood aide acquitted in fake currency case 

• Another 'lover' arrested at Sania Mirza's house 

• Mumbai, Pune and Delhi face 30-40 pc water shortage 

• Politicos get into the ABC of Varun's Z-plus security 

• MP drought-hit 

• Sariska tigers siblings, incest dangerous: Experts 

• 2016 Games contenders go all out to woo voters 

• Watch: Zardari admits to nurturing terrorists 

• SC takes up plea against gay sex, issues notice 

• CJ: Delhi-based builders make off with money 

• Pune reels under 40 per cent water cuts 

• RTI against college lands DCE student in trouble 

• Sports officer attacked for fighting corruption 

• Watch: Ferreira talks about sports and Union Budget 

• Forbes India: 20 stocks you must own 

• Dry state Gujarat reels under hooch tragedy 

• Burger King apologises to Hindus for offensive ad 

• India puts it in writing: Pak planned 26/11 

• Army honours Mohanlal with Lieutenant Colonel post 

• Another 'lover' arrested at Sania Mirza's house 

• MP drought-hit 

• Sariska tigers siblings, incest dangerous: Experts 

• Mamata dismisses corporate structure for railways 

• Mysore: PFI activists clash with police, lathicharged 

Photogallery

Find us on Facebook | Join IBNLive community

Stay ahead with G-Talk Buddy | Click now!

Mumbai: Twenty-three-year-old PR Executive Varun Mittal is an ex-call centre employee. He says he quit because working through the night threw his body clock completely out of gear.

"I felt tired all the time, had frequent headaches, digestive disorders, loss of appetite. You name it and I had it," says he.

But that's not all. According to a recent study conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organisation, (WHO) working the graveyard shift could increase a person's susceptibility to cancer.

This is because working through the night disrupts the circadian rhythm or the body's biological clock.

Working overnight also leads to a drop in production of Melatonin, which is a hormone that suppresses tumour development.

WHO is now considering listing graveyard shift work as a probable carcinogen.

Consultant Oncologist, Jaslok Hospital Mumbai, Dr Suresh H Advani says, "In the night shift people tend to have junk food and there is lack of exercise."

Oncologists believe cancer is a lifestyle disease, so here are a few tips to help you lead a healthier life.

Dr Advani says, "Eating fish, lots of vegetables and fresh fruit, salads, and exercising regularly and having a tension free positive frame of mind will go a long way in keeping cancer at bay."

And that's not all. The best way to remain cancer free is to remain stress free and to take time out of your busy schedules and learn to relax outside your office space.