- According to a new study, people who work night shifts have a 12 percent higher risk of atrial fibrillation (AFib), an irregular heart rate, compared to people who work during the day.
- While the study does not establish a causal link between working at night and Afib, researchers say the results suggest an increased risk factor.
- AFib is an extremely common heart arrhythmia, that left untreated, can lead to heart failure and stroke.
Working night shifts over an extended period of time may raise the risk of atrial fibrillation (AFib), a common heart arrhythmia.
A study published in the European Heart Journal found that when compared with daytime workers, people who worked night shifts had a 12 percent higher risk of AFib, an irregular heart rate.
“Although a study like this cannot show a causal link between night shifts and atrial fibrillation and heart disease, our results suggest that current and lifetime night shift work may increase the risk of these conditions,” Yingli Lu, study co-leader and a researcher at Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital and Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, said in a press release.
“Our findings have public health implications for preventing atrial fibrillation. They suggest that reducing both the frequency and the duration of night shift work may be beneficial for the health of the heart and blood vessels,” Lu said.
In undertaking the research, Lu and colleagues examined data of more than 283,000 people from the UK Biobank. They found the risk of AFib increased by 18 percent for people who had been working night shifts for their entire careers.
Lu and colleagues also found a 22 percent increase in risk in people who had worked 3 to 8 night shifts per month on average for a period of 10 or more years
Dr. Parveen Garg, a cardiologist with Keck Medicine at the University of Southern California, says the results of the study aren’t surprising, as the lifestyle that may accompany night shifts can increase risk of atrial fibrillation.
“When people have to work nontraditional hours, it can lead to a less healthier lifestyle that can cause you to be more sedentary. It’s harder to exercise,” Garg said.
“We know that people who work nontraditional work hours develop metabolic abnormalities like impaired fasting glucose, which can lead to diabetes. They tend to be more overweight… it’s harder to eat properly when you’re eating at off hours,” Garg told Healthline.
“When we’re talking about diabetes and obesity and physical inactivity and perhaps development of high blood pressure, these are all really strong risk factors for atrial fibrillation,” he said.
Source: healthline