Shift workers at greater risk of heart attack and stroke

People who work shifts are at more risk of heart attack or stroke than people who work regular hours.

A study involving over two million people conducted in Canada and Norway found that shift work can have a detrimental effect on a person's lifestyle and disrupt their body clock.

This, the researchers said, has been linked to increased blood pressure and diabetes

Of all the people used in the study, 17,359 had some kind of cardiac problem including 6,598 heart attacks and 1,854 strokes.

Health experts said that people working shifts were 23 per cent more likely to have a stroke and at a five per cent greater risk of suffering a stroke than those working a normal nine to five.

Dan Hackam, associate professor at Western University, London Ontario in Canada, said: "Night shift workers are up all the time and they don't have a defined rest period. They are in a state of perpetual nervous system activation which is bad for things like obesity and cholesterol."

He added that setting up screening programmes would help to identify the risk factors shift workers can experience, such as raised blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Mr Hackam also feels that shift workers should be educated on the health issues they could incur.

Ellen Mason, a senior cardiac nurse for the British Heart Foundation, however, said that the risk to shirt workers is "relatively small".

"But many Brits don't work nine to five and so these findings becomes much more significant," she told the BBC.

"Whether you work nights, evenings or regular office hours, eating healthily, getting active and quitting smoking can make a big difference to your heart health."

A similar study conducted in April this year found that shift workers were at a heightened risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity.