Shift workers die young, wearable company executive says Whoop

• People who have jobs that require them to work night shifts are more likely to develop health problems.
• According to Kristen Holmes, Whoop’s Vice President of Performance Science:
• Holmes explained that working night shifts can disrupt a person’s circadian rhythm and cause poor mental health.

People who work night shifts can experience a decreased quality of life and are at risk of dying 15 years earlier than those with more natural work patterns, according to senior executives at fitness tracker company Hoop.

Kristen Holmes, VP of Performance, who has been with Hoop since 2016, spoke with Stephen Bartlett on an episode of the podcast. CEO diary. Mr. Holmes discussed the importance of sleep, exposure to sunlight, and how shift workers are affected by irregular sleep schedules.

“People who stay awake for more than two hours between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.,” Holmes said in the podcast, referring to workers such as doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers and truck drivers. It is considered shift work.”

“We know that these people die on average 15 years earlier,” she added. ”Shift work is considered a carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Those people are making great sacrifices. ”

Although Holmes did not cite any specific scientific studies when talking about premature death, the negative effects of shift work are well-documented.

One recent research A survey of 60,000 middle-aged nurses published in the Annual Report of Internal Medicine found that night owls are more likely to have unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking, lack of sleep, and inactivity. . They also had a 72% higher risk of developing diabetes.

Women who worked night shifts for five years or more were slightly more likely to die from cardiovascular disease, another study found. Science Daily 2015 found. Women who worked these shifts for more than 15 years had an increased risk of dying from lung cancer.

Mr Holmes told Mr Bartlett that the effects of consuming protein and seeing light can “offset some of the effects of biological nighttime wakefulness” and “minimize disruption of circadian rhythms”. He said he was researching methods.

Circadian rhythm refers to the sleep-wake cycle that spans 24 hours a day and is influenced by how bright or dark it is outside.

“The reality is that these hospital rosters are not large enough to be able to roll out schedules that mitigate some of the risks associated with this disrupted circadian rhythm,” Holmes said.

She added that low mood, depression and suicide are more common among people in occupations where they have to work night shifts and work “against the natural light-dark cycle.”

Other health effects of staying awake at night include disturbed sleep, poor digestive health, and high blood pressure. Business Insider previously reported.