In today’s corporate and service sector, night shift has become a necessity in many companies to keep the work running smoothly. Thousands of employees work at night in sectors like IT, BPO, healthcare, manufacturing. While night shift may seem comfortable on the surface, it can actually have a serious impact on health. Experts say that especially due to poor sleep routine and lifestyle changes, the risk of many diseases increases. One of the biggest problems of night shift workers is lack of adequate and quality sleep. Working at night alters the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle. Sleeping during the day does not compensate for sleep at night, because the light, noise and biological clock of the body during the day do not complete sleep. It directly affects the body and brain.
According to an important research published recently, individuals who work night shifts are at higher risk of kidney stones. The study, published in the renowned journal ‘Myo Clinic Proceedings’, found that night shift workers were more likely to develop kidney stones than the general population. This risk is especially high among people of young age, who are less physically active and follow wrong lifestyle.
Research has also revealed that body weight, drinking habits, diet and sleep patterns all play an important role in the formation of kidney stones. Many night shift workers don’t drink water on time, eat too much fast food and neglect exercise. This disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm.
Circadian rhythm is the body’s natural internal clock system. This system determines when to sleep, when to wake up, and what hormones to produce. Night shift disrupts this rhythm and disrupts the balance of the entire body. This affects not only the kidneys, but also the heart, brain, digestive system and immune system.
Yin Yang, head of the Department of Epidemiology at Sun Yat-sen University in China, said the lead researcher of the study, “People who work night shifts have about a 15 percent higher risk of kidney stones. Smoking, insufficient sleep, drinking less water and being overweight are risk factors.” For this study, the data of about 220 thousand people was studied for 14 years. Meanwhile, Felix Knopf, a nephrology expert at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, has emphasized that the circadian rhythm is most affected by the night shift. Therefore, experts say that it is very important for night shift employees to pay special attention to their health, drink enough water, eat a balanced diet and follow sleep discipline as much as possible.
