Shift workers getting too little sleep at the wrong time of day may be increasing their risk of diabetes and obesity, according to researchers. The team is calling for more measures to reduce the impact of shift working following the results of its study.
Researchers controlled the lives of 21 people, including meal and bedtimes.
The results, published in Science Translational Medicine, showed changes to normal sleep meant the body struggled to control sugar levels.
Some participants even developed early symptoms of diabetes within weeks.
Shift work has been associated with a host of health problems.
Doctors at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in the US, were trying to study its effects in a controlled environment.
Lower insulin levels
snip
During this part of the study, sugar levels in the blood were "significantly increased" immediately after a meal and during "fasting" parts of the day.
The researchers showed that lower levels of insulin - the hormone that normally controls blood sugar - were produced.
Three of the participants had sugar levels which stayed so high after their meals they were classified as "pre-diabetic".
They also highlighted a risk of putting on weight as the body slowed down.
"The 8% drop in resting metabolic rate that we measured in our participants... translates into a 12.5-pound increase in weight over a single year," they wrote.
Click for Full Text!
