SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 NEWS) Thirty percent of workers are on the job during non-traditional hours. Those shift workers face a disorder doctors say can put their lives at risk. It’s called Shift Work Sleep Disorder, and they say it causes accidents, and obesity and it can make problems with insomnia, sleep apnea, heart disease and digestive disorders worse.
Shift work sleep disorder is caused by the sun, and as daylight hours grow longer, the chances of people on shift work getting the rest they need grows dim. Dr. Howard Leaman, with the Intermountain Sleep Disorders Center says “Shift work causes confusion in your brain. Your body is set on a 24 hour rhythm, and what sets that rhythm is light, and during the dark cycle your body is resting.”
He says during that rest period your body produces hormones needed to recover. During the daylight hours your body produces a different set of hormones that help meet the stresses encountered. Dr. Leaman says reversing those causes the physiological confusion. “If you switch the cycles, the hormones that you need to maintain functioning are way low and you can’t respond to the demands of work.”
To stay alert in the overnight hours, Dr. Leaman says avoid long commutes, work with others, try to be active during breaks, drink caffeinated beverages, and do the most tedious and boring tasks at the beginning of the shift, not when you are most sleepy at the end of shift. When you shift ends he says hide from the sun. “You need to shield yourself from the sun. Put on sunglasses, put on a hat with a brim and go to a dark place and sleep.”
Other tips to for getting sleep during daylight hours include: keeping a regular sleep routine, even on weekends, eliminating noise and light, avoiding caffeine right before bedtime and avoiding alcohol.
