Women
who work rotating night shifts may face an increased risk of heart disease, a
new study suggests. Researchers found that women who work more than 10 years of
rotating night shift had a 15 to 18% increased risk of developing coronary
heart disease (CHD), the most common type of heart disease, as compared with
women who did not work rotating night shifts.
“There
are a number of known risk factors for coronary heart disease, such as smoking,
poor diet, lack of physical activity and elevated body mass index (BMI),” said
lead author, Celine Vetter from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in the
US.
“These
are all critical factors when thinking how to prevent CHD. However, even after
controlling for these risk factors, we still saw an increased risk of CHD
associated with rotating shift work,” said Vetter.
