Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHSDrug counteracts shift work impact
The health impact of shift work, jet lag and some psychiatric disorders could all be treated using a drug that influence’s mammals’ body clock, scientists have discovered.
The research, led by the University of Manchester and the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, have worked out how to control one of the molecules involved in setting the speed of the body clock and in doing so change its rhythm.
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Readers' comments (4)
Steve Williams | 29-Aug-2010 3:37 pm
More information perhaps?
What drug?
This NT article is little less than a headline and a 'stand-first'... Where's the rest of it gone?
Bahhh......
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Anonymous | 3-Sep-2010 11:24 am
lol
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Anonymous | 7-Sep-2010 10:45 am
too much information methinks
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Anonymous | 19-Oct-2010 12:28 pm
what's the point of this article? it is not informative. As the above comment says what drug? and do workers necessarily want to take the risk of drugs merely to compensate for poor working conditions? many of my colleagues had difficulties readjusting before and after night duty and shifts were often imposed at short notice because of staff shortages and sickness. There was only one nurse on duty to cover a 20 bedded ward at night on a 10 hour shift with no breaks but some nevertheless brought food in to snack on the ward and took naps when quiet and as needed between two hourly rounds. Many also resorted to taking sleeping tablets (from the drug cupboard so that they were able to get some sleep during the day between shifts or to readjust before and after their series of shifts. there was sometimes a 24 hour break before or after the switch and under normal circumstances there were 7 night shifts in a series. Although I often found it impossible to sleep during the day, esp. in very noisy hospital accommodation, when I was older I did take short naps during my night shift but I never agreed with risking my health with sleeping tablets and preferred to suffer from tiredness and loss of sleep during that period, which fortunately didn't affect me adversly although I found latterly I was working far less efficiently and with flagging motivation and the very real, almost phobic, fear of making mistakes which could have been of serious consquence.
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