Poor sleepers, beware! A recent study suggests that lack of regular sleep could lead to cancer. According to a report by BBC News, shift work, which induces a change on an individual's sleeping pattern, has a harmful impact on a person's health.
While the tests were done on mice, still it suggests harmful correlation on human health. Further studies, though, are needed to confirm that lack of sleep could lead to cancer. Individuals with family history of breast cancer are advised to avoid shifting works to prevent getting at risk of this disease. Likewise, the study discovered that mice with poor sleeping patterns gained 20 percent more weight than those who were enjoying regular sleeping pattern, despite no alteration made in their diet. An earlier study asserted that working with shifting schedules and even flight attendants are susceptible of suffering from breast cancer.
According to experts, the connection between cancer and poor sleeping pattern is best explained by the disturbance of the "body clock" but this has to be further explored for strong evidence. Likewise, cancer development alone may not be solely due to poor sleeping pattern but may also be affected by social class, activity level and other factors.
The study, published in the journal New Biology, found that mice became at risk of developing breast cancer after pushing their body clock 12 hours every week for one year. While tumors usually develop in mice after 50 weeks, with their change in body clock, tumors came out eight weeks earlier.
Researchers explained that at least for women, shifting sleeping patterns could put them at risk of breast cancer earlier by five years or gain extra weight of at least eight pounds.
"If you had a situation where a family is at risk for breast cancer, I would certainly advise those people not to work as a flight attendant or to do shift work," Gijsbetus van der Horst, one of the study's researchers said.
