Working night shifts and staying up late can cause endometriosis and cancer

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Working night shifts and staying up late can cause endometriosis in women in addition to causing cancer

Working night shifts and staying up late can cause endometriosis and cancer. Previous studies have shown that night shift work can disrupt the natural rhythm of cancer-related genes, thereby increasing the risk of cancer. A new study today shows that night shift work is also related to women’s irregular menstruation and increases the risk of endometriosis.

More and more evidence shows that cancer is more common among night shift workers, which also prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer to classify night shift work as “may be carcinogenic to humans” in 2019.

In addition to night shift work, the phenomenon of staying up late for contemporary young people is becoming more and more serious, because active or passive staying up late has become the new normal for many people because of working overtime, playing games, writing short videos, etc.

On February 27, 2021, Washington State University researchers published a research paper titled: Night shift schedule causes circadian dysregulation of DNA repair genes and elevated DNA damage in humans in the Journal of Pineal Research.

The study found that night shift work disrupts the natural rhythm of cancer-related genes, delays the expression of cancer-related genes, makes night shift workers more prone to DNA damage, and reduces the efficiency of repairing these damaged DNA.

Details: The cause of cancer caused by night work has been discovered: staying up late disrupts the rhythm of cancer-related genes, resulting in increased DNA damage and decreased repair efficiency

A study released at the 23rd European Congress of Endocrinology (e-ECE 2021) held on May 23 showed that night shift work in women is associated with irregular menstruation and also increases the risk of endometriosis.

Endometriosis (endometriosis) refers to a common gynecological disease in women formed by active endometrial cells planted outside the endometrium (such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes). Endometriosis affects approximately 10% (190 million) women and girls of childbearing age worldwide. But for different women, the condition of the disease is different. Some women have mild symptoms, but some women will be severely affected.

For those severely affected women, due to the impact of endometriosis on the pelvis, ovaries, fallopian tubes or uterus, it will bring very painful feelings, and may lead to infertility, miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy.

This study shows that the circadian rhythm disorder of women working night shifts is related to irregular menstruation, and also increases the risk of endometriosis and ovarian tumors.

A research team led by Professor Eva Kassi of the University of Athens, Greece, conducted a study on 27 female patients diagnosed with ovarian endometriosis, and examined the expression of biological clock-related genes in eutopic and ectopic endometrial tissues.

The results found that compared with normal endometrial tissue, the expression of circadian clock-related genes in ectopic endometrial tissue has changed, specifically, the expression of PER-2, CRY-1 and CLOCK genes decreased, and the expression of REV-ERBb gene increase.

This is the first time that at the tissue level, the changes in the local circadian clock gene expression in the ectopic endometrium have confirmed the clinical evidence that circadian rhythm disorders may be related to endometriosis. These findings give us a better understanding of biological rhythm disorders, and also help us understand the causes and effects of endometriosis, and help improve the ability to prevent and treat endometriosis.

At present, the research paper has not been published, and the specific research details are still unknown. The research team said that the causal relationship between the changes in the expression patterns of these circadian clock genes and the development of endometriosis needs further study.

Night shift workers often face huge health risks, ranging from increased risks of metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases and mental illnesses to increased risks of cancer. And they often don’t get enough attention and research from the medical profession.

These two studies remind us that circadian rhythm disorders caused by night work and staying up late are related to the increased risk of cancer, menstrual disorders, and endometriosis. It also provides a new way for the prevention and treatment of cancer and endometriosis. It also warns us that staying up late is much more harmful to the body than we previously realized.

The leader of the study, Professor Eva Kassi