Night Shifts could Potentially Increases the Risk of Breast Cancer

July 2, 2018  Source: MedicalNewsBulletin 817

More than 2.5 million people work night-shifts. In 2007, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reported that working shifts generally disturbs momentum classified as being “probably carcinogenic to humans”.

A scientific report stated that this increased prevalence of night work could increase the incidence of breast cancer. A research team from South Korea explored the connection between night work and breast cancer, followed by publishing their results in Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

There is, however, no clear dose-response relationship among the people who are exposed to a lesser duration of night work (<20 years). Studies revealed that higher level of melatonin produces strong anti-cancer signals to cancer cells during darkness and protects normal cells. However, lower levels of this component have been observed among the night shift workers, which could lead to cancer growth as a result of light exposure during night time. There is also a variation in assessing night work exposure from country to country, which was a limiting factor to the study.

By Ddu
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