Night work
could damage your health
A new study suggests working shifts at night can be damaging to
one's health. In particular, it increases the risk of several cancers,
diabetes, mental illnesses, and various heart diseases. Researchers from the
Sleep Research Centre at the U.K.'s University of Surrey discovered that many
genes in the body needed to follow a regular 24-hour cycle, during which the
body sleeps at night. If this cycle is broken, up to 1,500 genes could get
damaged, eventually resulting in potentially life-threatening diseases.
Professor Derk-Jan Dijk said: "The study has important implications
because we now need to discover why these rhythms exist and think about the
consequences of that."
The human body has around 24,000 genes. Many of
these switch off if the body does not follow a regular sleeping pattern. This
can cause parts of the immune system to become less efficient, making us more
susceptible to illnesses. Study co-author Dr Simon Archer said: "Over 97
per cent of rhythmic genes become out-of-sync with mistimed sleep, which really
explains why we feel so bad during jet lag or if we have to work irregular
shifts." Dr Dijk said that despite the results of the research, it would
be difficult for people to change their lifestyles. He explained it was
difficult for society to function without people working night shifts, but said
people needed to understand the dangers and "mitigate the impact".
MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ
1.
|
What suggested
working shifts at night could damage one's health?
|
6.
|
What do many
genes do if they do not follow a regular sleeping pattern?
|
a) an Internet
website
b) a documentary c) a hospital d) a report |
a) merge with
adjacent genes
b) double in size c) switch off d) work faster |
||
2.
|
In which country
is the university that conducted the research?
|
7.
|
What did the
article say becomes less efficient with irregular sleep?
|
a) Ukraine
b) England c) South Africa d) the USA |
a) the immune
system
b) studying English c) the rhythm of life d) illness |
||
3.
|
How many genes
could get damaged?
|
8.
|
What else is
mentioned that upsets our sleeping pattern?
|
a) all of them
b) 24,000 c) 14,520 d) as many as 1,500 |
a) alcohol
b) alarm clocks c) jet lag d) stress and anxiety |
||
4.
|
What could
damaged genes potentially result in?
|
9.
|
What did a doctor
say was difficult for people to change?
|
a) compensation
claims
b) the gene pool c) life-threatening diseases d) weight loss |
a) results
b) their lifestyle c) pajamas (USA) pyjamas (UK) d) genes |
||
5.
|
What did a
professor say we needed to discover?
|
10.
|
What did the
doctor say people needed to understand?
|
a) the missing
gene
b) ourselves c) the secret of life d) why rhythms exist |
a) the dangers of
irregular sleep
b) how many genes we have c) how to look after your genes d) gene therapy |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments