Shift work linked to risk of heart attack, stroke, new study suggests

A massive new Canadian-led study says that working night shifts dramatically increases the risk of heart attack or stroke — although no one seems to know exactly why.

Photograph by: Photos.com , canada.com

Shift work — especially working nights — increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to a Canadian-led study that is being billed as the largest-ever of its kind.

About a third of Canada's full-time labour force does shift work — working evening and nights, rotating shifts, split shifts and any other schedule that isn't nine-to-five.

Until now, the data on whether shift work heightens heart attack and stroke risk has been controversial, with some studies showing an increased risk, and others no association whatsoever.

For their new study, the international research team pooled results from 34 studies involving more than two million people. They found that shift work was associated with a 23 per cent increase in the risk of a heart attack, a five per cent increase in the risk of stroke and a 24 per cent increase in the risk of unstable angina, coronary artery disease and other "coronary events."

Night work was associated with the sharpest increase in risk — 41 per cent — for major vascular problems.


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