Diabetes in the 24/7 society. The relationship between shift work and metabolic disorders

Abstract

In the contemporary world with the high pace of life and industrialization, more and more people are getting employed on the shift work basis. So far a lot of investigations have indicated harmfulness of this kind of work, treating it as a risk factor for many diseases and medical problems i.e. sleep disorders, peptic ulcer, cancer, obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemias, high blood pressure and coronary heart disease. Biological clock plays a crucial role on physiological processes starting with heart rate and blood pressure along with complex metabolic processes. Regulation of this mechanisms takes place on few levels: neurological (central biological clock), hormonal (melatonin) and molecular (pre, cry, clock and bal1 genes transcription). External time givers (Zeitgebers) such as sunlight, moving, eating or temperature can modulate these processes. Shift work results in increase risk of metabolic syndrome, cognitive function worsening, immunodeficiency, hormones disturbances or even death or suicide from over-strain. This review summarizes uptodated knowledge on links between shift work and the risk of obesity, hormones disturbances and type 2 diabetes.