THE ESSENTIAL
- 21% of volunteers said they had been exposed to some form of night work during their career.
- Memory problems have been observed in people working night shifts.
- “Shift work at night was associated with impaired executive functions.”
In recent years, several studies have alerted to the harmful effects of night work. In a recent study, scientists from York University (in Canada) revealed that working shifts was associated with cognitive impairment. To reach this conclusion, they analyzed data from 47,811 adults between the ages of 45 and 85.
A potential link between exposure to night work and impaired cognitive functions
“Three variables of night work were used: adults who have always worked during office hours (i.e. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), those exposed to night work in their former position and people currently exercising their profession at regular working hours. staggered”, can we read in the works published in the journal Plos One. Participants also had to perform cognitive function tests (memory, verbal fluency, etc.). All results were adjusted for age, gender, education level and language of the test, and then compared to data from “control” people.
Overall, one in five (21%) said they had been exposed to some form of night work in their career. Higher rates of cognitive impairment were found among participants who reported working night shifts in their current job or working odd hours in their former job, compared to those who always worked shift hours. desk. “In cognition subdomains, night work was associated with impaired memory functions and shift work with impaired executive functions,” added the authors.
Cognitive decline: “disruptive circadian stimuli may play a role in neurodegeneration”
The team reported that disruption of the circadian rhythm due to night work could negatively impact cognitive functions in middle-aged adults and older people. “We hypothesize that disruptive circadian stimuli may play a role in neurodegeneration contributing to cognitive impairment. However, further research is needed to confirm the association between night work and cognitive impairment as well as the physiological pathways that underlie it. tension the mechanism”, she concluded in a statement.
2023-08-25 17:02:14
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