研究发现 上夜班会造成DNA损伤并引发癌症

Night shift work may stop the body repairing daily damage to DNA and raise the risk of mutations that lead to cancer, a new study suggests.

一项新研究显示，上夜班可能阻止身体修复日常的DNA损伤，提高发生致癌突变的风险。

US reSearchers have discovered that when people work nights they produce 80% less of a chemical that is a by-product of DNA tissue repair.

美国研究人员发现，人们上夜班时，体内分泌的某种化学物质会减少80%，这种化学物质是脱氧核糖核酸(DNA)组织修复的副产品。

This indicates that the body is not carrying out the crucial restoration to cells that should happen naturally overnight.

这表明人体没有对细胞进行关键的修复，而这种修复本应在夜间自然地完成。

Scientists believe the effect could be caused by a lack of melatonin, the sleep hormone, which is far lower among people who sleep in the daytime.

科学家认为，这种效应可能是由缺乏褪黑激素，即睡眠荷尔蒙引发的，在白天睡觉的人群当中，这种激素水平要低得多。

They believe that shift workers may need to take sleep hormone supplements to allow DNA to carry out repairs as they sleep in the day.

科学家认为，倒班员工也许需要摄入睡眠荷尔蒙补充剂，让DNA在他们白天睡觉时进行修复。

If such effects are confirmed, melatonin supplementation should be explored as an intervention to reduce the occurrence of potentially carcinogenic DNA damage among shift workers, said Dr Parveen Bhatti from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.

华盛顿州西雅图的福瑞德·哈金森肿瘤研究中心的帕尔文·巴提博士表示，如果此效果得到证实，则应探讨用褪黑激素补充剂进行干预，来减少倒班员工出现可能致癌的DNA损伤。