Shift work linked to heightened risk of type 2 diabetes

Shift work is linked to a heightened risk of developing type 2 diabetes, with the risk seemingly greatest among men and those working rotating shift patterns, indicates an analysis of the available evidence published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

Previous research has suggested links between working shifts and a heightened risk of various health problems, including digestive disorders, certain cancers, and cardiovascular disease. But whether diabetes can be added to the list has not been clear.

The authors therefore trawled through scientific research databases, looking for relevant observational studies assessing associations between shift work and diabetes risk.

They retrieved 12 international studies out of a potential total of 448, involving more than 226,500 participants, 14,600 of whom had diabetes.

When they pooled all the results together they calculated that any period of shift work was associated with a 9% increased risk of developing diabetes compared with working normal office hours.

This heightened risk rose to 37% for men, after further analysis to look at the potential effects of gender, study design, study location, job, shift schedule, body mass index (BMI), family history of diabetes and physical activity levels.

You are more at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes if: You are over 40 (or over 25 if you are South Asian) You have a close family member with diabetes (parent, brother or sister) You are overweight, with a large waist size (over 80cm (31.5 inches) for women, 94cm (37 inches) for men, or 89cm (35 inches) for South Asian men) Being South Asian, Black African, African Caribbean - even if you were born in the UK You have ever had high blood pressure, a heart attack or a stroke You're a woman with polycystic ovary syndrome and overweight If you're a woman and you've had gestational diabetes or given birth to a baby over 10 pounds If you have a severe mental illness for which you take medication (such as schizophrenia, bipolar illness or depression) You've been told you have impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glycaemia.

Note: Some of these risks factors are genetic factors and there is little you can do to reduce them, so it’s best to concentrate on those you can change, such as your weight.

The reasons for this finding are not clear, say the authors, but suggest that men working shift patterns might need to pay more attention to the possible health consequences of their working schedule.

Daytime levels of the male hormone testosterone are controlled by the internal body clock, so it's possible that repeated disruption may affect this, say the authors, pointing to research implicating low male hormone levels in insulin resistance and diabetes.

Most shift patterns, except mixed and evening shifts, were associated with a heightened risk of the disease compared with those working normal office hours.