Shift work takes a toll on heart

People who work the graveyard and other non-9-to-5 shifts may face a higher risk of heart attacks, a Canadian review suggests. Shift work disrupts our body clocks and can wreak havoc with work-life balance. But research on its association with health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes has been conflicted, partly because investigators use different methods, populations and definitions. Thursday's issue of the British Medical Journal includes what an Ontario-led team called the "largest synthesis of shift work and vascular risk reported to date."