Can working shift patterns give you type 2 diabetes?

Men who works in shift are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a study warns. The reasons for this finding are not clear, say the authors, but suggest that men working shift patterns might need to pay more attention to the possible health consequences of their working schedule.

To reach this conclusion, researchers retrieved 12 international studies involving more than 226,500 participants, 14,600 of whom had diabetes. When they pooled all the results together they calculated that any period of shift work was associated with a 9 percent increased risk of developing diabetes compared with working normal office hours. This heightened risk rose to 37 percent for men. (Read: 10 ways to control diabetes naturally)

'Daytime levels of the male hormone testosterone are controlled by the internal body clock, so it is possible that repeated disruption may affect this,' researchers noted, pointing to research implicating low male hormone levels in insulin resistance and diabetes. Most shift patterns, except mixed and evening shifts, were associated with a heightened risk of the disease compared with those working normal office hours. (Read: 10 healthy resolutions for diabetics )

And rotating shifts, in which people work different parts of the 24 hour cycle on a regular basis, rather than a fixed pattern, were associated with the highest risk: 42 percent. Rotating shifts make it harder for people to adjust to a regular sleep-wake cycle, and some research has suggested that a lack of sleep, or poor quality sleep, may prompt or worsen insulin resistance, authors maintained. The paper was published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine. (Read: Whey protein key to helping diabetics control blood sugar?)

Here tips to live well with diabetes

• Eat regular meals. Have at least three meals at about the same time everyday. Eating every four to five hours can help control blood sugar. Always carry with you some type of carbohydrate food or drink that has 10 to 15 grams of carbohydrate which you can use in case of emergency (low glucose level).
• Eat a variety of foods. Choose foods that fulfill your body's nutritional needs. Eat less fat, less sugar and less salt. Avoid fried foods. Baked, boiled or steamed foods are healthier to eat. Avoid red meat. Have low fat dairy products. Eat more high-fiber foods, like vegetables, fruit and whole grain breads and cereals.
• Monitor your blood glucose two to four times every day with a blood glucose meter,if your doctor has advised you to. It is an electronic device for measuring the blood glucose at home. The blood glucose test is performed by pricking your finger with a small, sharp needle (lancet), putting a drop of blood on a chemically active disposable test strip and then placing the strip into a digital meter that displays your blood sugar level. Within a few seconds, the blood glucose level will be shown on the digital display. Read more about

With inputs from IANS

Photo source: Getty images

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• Prevent diabetes with these 10 practical tips (Gallery)
• 10 tips to keep your blood sugar under control (Gallery)
• Medicines for diabetes types, side effects, drug interactions

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