Night shift workers ‘a third more likely to have asthma’

nigHT shifts are demanding enough already – disrupting the body clock along with any chance of a social life.

But those who work while the rest of us sleep now have to worry about asthma too.

That’s because a study has found that night workers are 36 per cent more likely to have moderate to severe asthma compared with day workers. Higher chances of wheezing or breathing difficulties were also noted.

Experts say changes to the body clock may be to blame for greater susceptibility to asthma. And they say the public health implications of these findings are potentially ‘farreaching’, as one in five people in developed countries works permanent or rotating night shifts.

For the study, a team from the university of Manchester split 280,000 Britons into three groups – day shift workers, night shift workers, and those who rotated between both.

They gathered medical, lifestyle and employment information, and asked workers if they were a morning or evening person. Permanent night shift workers were found to have a 36 per cent higher risk of moderate to severe asthma compared with permanent day workers.

The odds of wheezing or airway whistling – an indication of breathing difficulties – was 11 to 18 per cent higher for permanent night shift workers.

natural early risers, or ‘larks’, had a 55 per cent higher risk of moderate to severe asthma if they worked irregular shifts including nights.

The researchers added that chronotype – whether someone is a morning or evening person – changed with age, getting later in adolescence then earlier, suggesting older individuals may find it harder to work at night.

The study, published i n the Thorax journal, warned: ‘There are no specific national clinical guidelines for how to manage asthma in shift workers.’

The researchers suggest that adapting schedules to suit chronotypes could be worthwhile.

Lead author dr Hannah durrington said: ‘The results highlight the need to improve guidelines, or develop laws, for employers to protect shift workers. Shift workers are an increasingly important section of the workforce, especially more recently in response to the pandemic.’

‘Changes to the body clock blamed’