1. Physiological angle
The human body has a circadian rhythm, and all life processes, including heartbeat, brain wave activity, body temperature, wakefulness and sleep, are carried out in a certain circadian rhythm. Working in shifts for a long time will destroy the physiological rhythm of the staff. Switching between night shift and day shift for a long time, people's biological clock will be disordered, causing different harm to the body.
1. 1 Night shift brings physical load.
Night shift may lead to increased physical load. Research shows that people's appetite and metabolism run according to the environmental rhythm of sunrise and sunset. Night shift leads to the change of sleep time and eating behavior, which may lead to the disorder of circadian rhythm and trigger a series of digestive system diseases, such as hyperacidity, stomach disease, digestive disorder, etc., followed by health problems such as obesity and metabolic syndrome.
1.2 day shift may cause physical tension.
However, in the day shift, working long hours and repeatedly flipping some repetitive jobs with light load (such as clerks and waiters) will bring different degrees of tension to the body. Sedentary may lead to fatigue and pain of musculoskeletal system, leading to shoulder and neck pain, backache and finger pain. Because the working hours of the day shift are mainly in the daytime, the sunshine time is too long, the workers sleep less and the sleep quality is poor, which affects the normal operation of the endocrine and immune systems of the human body.
2. Disease perspective
Long shift work will increase the risk of many diseases, among which the risk of key diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, oral cancer and leukemia is particularly prominent among night shift workers.
2. 1 obesity
Long-term night shift will lead to biological clock disorder, increased appetite, decreased metabolism and weight gain. Long-term shift work will lead to chaos in daily life, and may even breed unnecessary emotions, lead to impulsive eating, and easily lead to obesity.
2.2 Diabetes
Night shift can not only lead to obesity, but also be related to diabetes. Working at night will lead to the disorder of the internal biological clock of the body, thus affecting the release of insulin, causing insulin resistance and making blood sugar easy to rise.
2.3 heart disease
Long-term shift work may damage the cardiovascular system and lead to heart disease. The risk of obesity, hypertension and diabetes among night shift workers will increase the incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, the cardiovascular function is relatively weak at night, and night shift workers often have to face high-load work, so they may be prone to myocardial ischemia and myocardial infarction.
2.4 Oral cancer
Many studies have pointed out that there is also a clear link between night shift and oral cancer. This connection may be due to the periodic irregular diet and disorder of biological clock caused by long-term shift work, which leads to decreased immunity and increased risk of oral cancer.
2.5 leukemia
Studies have shown that night shift is related to leukemia. In addition, because of the imbalance of biological clock, the body's immunity will be affected, thus damaging the blood system, and long-term night shift work may be another important inducement of this risk.
3. Psychological perspective
Long-term shift work may also have a negative impact on employees' mental health. Common psychological conditions include anxiety, depression and fatigue.
3. 1 anxiety
Working in shifts for a long time will disrupt the circadian rhythm and make employees who work at night prone to anxiety symptoms, which may be caused by being in a dark environment for a long time or feeling bored and lonely at night.
3.2 Depression
Night shift not only causes anxiety, but also causes depression. Night shift workers suffering from depression may face the constant input of negative external information, which may lead to increased psychological pressure, emotional instability, headache, insomnia, stomach discomfort and other symptoms.
3.3 fatigue
Long-term shift work often leads to physical and mental fatigue. Frequent shift changes will disrupt workers' normal work and rest, overdraw their physical strength, aggravate symptoms such as muscle fatigue and eye fatigue, and long-term fatigue may also lead to other health problems.
4. Improve prevention and health care measures
Although long-term shift work has negative effects on body and mind to varying degrees, it does not mean that night shift work should be completely abandoned. Measures should be taken to adjust the night shift work mode and reduce the night shift time.
In addition, we can take the following preventive and health care measures:
4. 1 Healthy eating
Night shift can easily lead to eating disorder. Therefore, it is suggested that night shift workers adopt a healthy and regular diet to provide adequate nutrition for their bodies and increase their adaptability to the environment.
4.2 Exercise
Participate in health-related sports regularly, such as running and ball games. This can promote blood circulation, enhance physical function and immunity, and relieve psychological stress and anxiety and depression symptoms.