Managing the Night Shift

The night shift has always been a “killer” for those with diabetes 1 and 2. I have never been able to give anyone good advice as to how to handle the glucose under night working conditions.

Now comes another “killer” aspect to the night shift. Science News 1.7.06 #169 page 9, the “consumer” edition of Science, cites several articles indicating an increase in breast cancer and probably prostate cancer from bright light at night.

By interrupting the body’s mainly nocturnal production of melatonin the Nurses Health Study indicates a very significant increase in breast cancer. It is not the lack of sleep but the exposure to light. The prostate cancer data is unfolding.

There is no recommendation that taking melatonin would help but only because of uncertainty of contaminants in production and being a hormone, it does have effects on other sex hormones.