Canadian Pharmacy Online Reports Night Shift Increases Breast Cancer Threat

Women who work the night shift more than twice a week might be increasing their risk for breast cancer and their possibility to take Generic Femara letrozole in the market.

"About 10 to 20 percent of women in modern societies have night shift work," said lead researcher Johnni Hansen. "It might therefore be one of the largest occupational problems related to cancer." Right now, the reasons for these findings are uncertain. 

"Night shift work involves exposure to light at night, which decreases the production of the night hormone melatonin that seems to protect against certain cancers," said Hansen, of the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology at the Danish Cancer Society, in Copenhagen. 

"In addition, light at night might introduce circadian disruption, where the master clock in the brain becomes desynchronized from local cellular clocks in different body organs, affecting the breast," he said. 

"Repeated phase shifting may lead to defects in the regulation of the circadian cell cycle, thus favoring uncontrolled growth," Hansen said. 

"Also, sleep deprivation after night shift work leads to the suppression of the immune system, which might increase the growth of cancer cells," he added. 

"Since night shift work is unavoidable in modern societies, this type of work should be limited in duration and limited to less than three night shifts per week," Hansen said. "In particular, morning types should limit their night work," he added. 

"Men who work at night may also be at risk for prostate cancer," Hansen noted. "This evidence comes from three small studies," he said. 

Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said that "it's very hard to single out the causes of breast cancer and whether women on the night shift have a higher risk." 

"Stress increases the risk of breast cancer and affects the body as a whole, and working at night can throw off your circadian rhythm and cause stress," Bernik said. 

"This is another finding that breast cancer is caused by a multitude of different environmental and genetic influences, so this is probably a piece of the puzzle," she added. 

An expert on environmental factors that affect cancer, Richard Stevens, from the department of community medicine at the UConn Health Center in Farmington, Conn., said that "the evidence is growing rapidly about light at night and, specifically, shift work and breast cancer." 

"But, this is the first study about the morning/evening preference," he noted. 

"If it's true that light at night increases the risk of disease, then there are very practical implications," Stevens said. 

"If lighting is really an issue in night work, it is known which wavelengths suppress melatonin the most, and lighting could be adjusted to eliminate those wavelengths," he explained. 

"For example, for health in general, if you wake up during the night, stay in the dark; don't turn on the light. If you turn on the lights it will start suppressing melatonin immediately," Stevens said. 

"There is a lot more involved than melatonin, but it's a good marker if your circadian rhythm is being changed," he said. 

"Studies are ongoing on the risk of night work and prostate cancer," Stevens noted. While the studies have not fully concluded and recommended solutions, to buy Femara online comes in very handy.