Shift Work, Cortisol and Environmental Factors in MS
October 19, 2011 at 8:11am
In the news yesterday, a new study showing how shift work (night time work outside of normal daytime hours) doubles a teen's risk of developing Multiple Sclerosis.
This is considered an "environmental factor" as opposed to a genetic factor. This new paper comes from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and was published in the Annals of Neurology. The researchers did not propose a specific theory as to how shift work might increase the risk of MS, but they did comment on how circadian rhythm disruption might affect melatonin and the immune system.
Here is the complete paper:
Oddly enough, just last week, another published study showed how shift work raises the risk of metabolic disease, higher body mass index (BMI) and cardiac problems in young adults vias cortisol release. This study was undertaken by Dutch researchers and published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology-- only a week prior to the Swedish study.
Here's the abstract for that paper on shift work:
Shift work, or work outside standard daytime hours, has been associated with an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome, and cortisol plays a major role in the development of the disease.
