Sleeping through your own holiday: Night-shift workers tell JEFF MCMILLAN about the nocturnal life in this asap video.
Night-shift workers tell it like it is.
Imagine being jet-lagged all the time. Now imagine you're at a high risk of stomach problems, cancer, obesity and car accidents. Oh, and you rarely see your family or friends.
It's all in a night's work.
Wednesday is National Night Shift Workers Day and National Third Shift Workers Day, a salute to the millions of Americans who toil roughly between 4 p.m. and 7 a.m.
"On their days off, they go back to being day people and often experience a great deal of trouble being alert and functioning cognitively," said Dr. David Dinges, a professor and sleep researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.
Several ills have been documented as potential effects of night work, Dinges said, among them gastrointestinal trouble; obesity; increased likelihood of some cancers; and a risk of falling asleep while driving home.
There's even a little-known but named condition for it when workers become severely affected, Dinges said: shift-work disorder.
"They're living in a chronic, partial jet lag," he said.
Employers aren't immune, either. During the shift, error rates go up, workers are slower to respond, productivity falls and accident risk rises, Dinges said.
It's not all bad news. Night work has its advantages. Parents might find it easier to manage child care, and the pay may be higher than that for day work. Many night workers report no trouble adjusting at all.
They're the lucky ones.
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See the video here.
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For night-shift workers who struggle, Dinges offers some tips, acknowledging that they may not work or be possible for all people:
_ Darken the windows when sleeping.
_ Disconnect the phone.
_ Teach the family not to bother you.
_ Sleep with earplugs.
_ Work in a brightly lit environment.
_ Minimize exposure to bright sunlight on the way home; the body is more sensitive to light in the morning.
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asap contributor Jeff McMillan is an editor on AP's national desk.
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