By O2X Sleep Specialist Allison Brager
Shift work is disruptive to achieving optimal health; so much so that even the World Health Organization has taken notice. In the future, there may be federal and/or state mandates to limiting “working around the clock.”
In general, what makes shift work so disruptive is working around the (biological) clock. As humans, we’ve evolved to be active in the day and sleep at night. But then Thomas Edison and Henry Ford had to go and invent electricity and the concept of shift work, and modern life forever changed. Working around the (biological) clock is not fully possible. The sleep and wake signals of the biological clock are very strong and long lasting. Being awake when we should be sleep results in compromised performance and being asleep when we should be awake diminishes sleep quality…
