What happens to the body when one works at night?
The objective of this paper is to present some recent chronobiological findings related to shift and night worker adaptation. First, some key chronobiological concepts concerning the human species are presented. The authors then discuss the possible impacts of work schedules on shift workers' and night workers' health. Finally, countermeasures that might allow adjusting the workers' biological rhythm to shift and night work are discussed.
Moreno
Claudia Roberta de Castro
CR
Centro de Pós-graduação, Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, Tubarão, Brazil. cmoreno@unisul.br
Louzada
Fernando Mazzilli
FM
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D002909:Chronobiology Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*