Insufficient sleep, irregular sleep, and staying up late have adverse effects on health. There should be no doubt about this. Therefore, doctors always advise everyone not to stay up late. Some people even reminded that staying up late may cause cancer. This is scientifically justified. ? Today, I will talk with you about the relationship between sleep and cancer.
Will staying up late and sleeping irregularly cause cancer? Research suggests that sleep patterns may indeed affect breast cancer risk, with women who work night shifts appearing to have a higher risk of breast cancer than those who work a day, while men also appear to have a higher risk of prostate cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under the World Health Organization has classified night shift work as a “probable carcinogen” based on a follow-up study of nurses and flight attendants who often need to work night shifts.
Of course, this is only “possible”, the correlation between the two is not very clear, and more needs to be done. Backed by reliable research data. But in any case, regular sleep is always important, and a good night’s sleep is necessary, even if there is still no very reliable and sufficient experimental data to support it in the future.
But don’t take chances. Staying up late and lack of sleep will bring a series of health problems, especially long-term lack of sleep and long-term irregular sleep. I don’t think anyone will deny this. The health effects of sleep deprivation can be both acute and chronic.
Acute is mainly to cause fatigue, lack of energy, slow movement, slowed reaction ability and thinking, chronic effect is mainly to weaken the body’s immunity, and immunity is to resist all diseases including cancer. basic conditions.
Why does sleeping irregularly and staying up late lead to an increased risk of cancer? In addition to the above-mentioned possibility of weakening the body’s immunity and indirectly increasing the risk of cancer, the main mechanism may be related to the decrease in the secretion of melatonin.
Since melatonin is mainly secreted during sleep at night, night shifts or staying up late will interfere with the body’s normal biological clock, thereby interfering with the secretion of melatonin. Lights will also inhibit the secretion of melatonin, which may inhibit the sex hormone If the secretion of melatonin decreases, the release of sex hormones will naturally increase. In addition, the disturbance of the biological clock will lead to endocrine dysfunction, disturb the balance of sex hormones, thereby increasing the risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer, etc. Another possible mechanism is that melatonin is an antioxidant that helps reduce the production of oxygen free radicals in the body, thereby reducing the risk of cancer.
Although there is not enough research evidence to support the relationship between sleep and cancer, current research does suggest that there may be some connection between the two. Therefore, please pay attention to sleep problems, and sleep time should be basic. The guarantee, and more importantly, the regularity of sleep, avoid or reduce staying up late.
Due to the nature of work, some people often need to work “night shifts”, what should I do?
Try to adapt to this “black and white upside-down life rule”, when making up sleep during the day, try to sleep in a quiet and dark environment, and try to do better in other aspects, such as diet, smoking cessation and alcohol restriction, etc. The nature of work cannot be changed, instead of complaining, you might as well adapt, develop a new life and sleep pattern that adapts to the nature of work, and at the same time make some supporting changes for this new life pattern to minimize the negative impact on health.< /p>
I hope everyone pays attention to sleep, unless it is really due to the nature of work, try not to stay up late, at least reduce the number of times of staying up late, I wish you all every day Have a good night’s sleep!
Author: Pan Zhanhe@Oncology Specialist (Health Ambassador of Fujian Health News, Deputy Chief Physician of Oncology Department of Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Xiamen University, tutor of postgraduate students, well-known author of oncology science, Member of China Medical We-Media Alliance, Weibo Top 10 Influential Medical V in 2016)
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Source: Pan Zhan and WeChat public account