Graveyard shift linked to higher breast cancer risk

[lissomllama]

Hey guys, I was at the supermarket with hubby a few minutes ago and was talking to the lady who always rings our stuff up and we got to talking a bit. Backround: Hubby and I go to sleep around 6 AM and wake up at around 2 PM because hubby works graveyeard hours and I like to have some time with him so I switched my sleeping/waking hours to match his. Anyway I made a little joke to the cashier about how she's always there to 'ring us up' at 4 AM when we do our shopping and she laughed and somehow brought up the issue of graveyeard shifts being unhealthy and causing cancer in women. I was surprised at first and I just got home and jumped on yahoo to do a search and I found a page from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that basically states that women who work graveyard shifts (or women who are for some reason exposed to light at night) are more at risk for cancer because the light stops the pineal gland (a gland that is highly light sensitive) from producing it's normal amount of melatonin which somehow increases the release of estrogen by the ovaries thus making one more susceptible to breast cancer (but I would think uterine as well). It all came together for me because as some of you may remember I started a thread a while back about Lunaception (the practice of timing your menstrual/ovulatory cycle by the waning/waxing of the moon) and cyclical synchronization is best achieved by fine tuning when you're exposed to light/dark and this is all orchestrated by the pineal gland. Due to this lunaception stuff I've been basically living by dim candle light after it gets dark and trying to get a good amount of natural indirect light exposure during sunlight hours. So I'm too worried about this but I will be happy when hubby and I can go back to a normal schedule. It was just interesting to me how this all fit together for me like a puzzle. They are just kind of connected, I thought you guys might like to hear about it and you know how I likes me a good ole health conspiracy any day . Here is the one link I read. http://jncicancerspectrum.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/jnci;93/20/1557

[singindierain]

Oh well great ...more for me to worry about!

[lissomllama]

Yeah I thought about you when I was reading up on it. Knowlege is power though. Just try to find ways to be in as dimly lit spaces as you can during the nightime hours.

[Ivytwine]

I work the graveyard shift, and before going to bed every night (morning, heh) I take a melatonin tablet. I wonder if this helps any with this issue?

[lissomllama]

I imagine it would help raise your melatonin levels but I'm not sure if it would help with the amount of estrogen released. It very well may though. That's interesting. I'd like to find out more about that.

[dagonlilly]

When I worked 3rd I remember the doctor asking me during a physical what hours I worked. It apparently has a lot of negetive effects on the body. One was your body never got use to the shift . you may think it but the way you know it dosent is because you can fall into a normal schedual fast like in a weekend. 35 percent more likely to develop some type of colorectal cancer. I got out of it because I like to sleep and just couldnt take having a 6 month at home and trying to sleep. Plus everyone knows your home and will call you and try to get you to do things. I did 3 rd shfit for 3 years and will never go back to it. My hubby on the other hand works 5pm to 5 am and he seems to like it. He can function on 6 hours sleep.

[singindierain]

On my "weekend" I tend to sleep the first day completely away. I've even slept 25 hours once. I sleep till my body hurts cause I'm soooo tired. It's weird. Hey, I wonder who will be the first person to sue their employer because they were forced to work graves and got cancer....something to ponder.