Women whose jobs require periodic night shift work may be increasing their diabetes risk. A study found that a woman's risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases steadily with the amount of shift work.
Women who worked night shifts on occasion for as little as three years were 20% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Twenty years of shift work led to a nearly 60% increase in the likelihood of developing the disease.
CNN reports:
“Much of the increase in diabetes risk can be explained by weight gain -- a common and well-known side effect of shift work, which disrupts eating and sleeping schedules in ways that can make following a healthy lifestyle a challenge. But other, more subtle disturbances may also play a role. Irregular work hours tend to disrupt the body's circadian rhythms ... which play a critical role in maintaining healthy blood-sugar metabolism and energy balance”.