Graveyard shift workers, night owls, prone to cancer??!!
I'm doomed!
LONDON - It was once scientific heresy to
suggest that smoking contributed to lung cancer. Now, another idea
initially dismissed as nutty is gaining acceptance: the graveyard shift
might increase your cancer 
Next month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, will classify shift work as a "probable" carcinogen.
That will put shift work in the same category as cancer-causing agents like anabolic steroids, ultraviolet radiation, and diesel engine exhaust.
If the shift work theory proves correct, millions of people worldwide could be affected. Experts estimate that nearly 20 percent of the working population in developed countries work night shifts.
It is a surprising twist for an idea that scientists first described as "wacky," said Richard Stevens, a cancer epidemiologist and professor at the University of Connecticut Health Center. In 1987, Stevens published a paper suggesting a link between light at night and breast cancer.
Back then, he was trying to figure out why breast cancer incidence suddenly shot up starting in the 1930s in industrialized societies, where nighttime work was considered a hallmark of progress. Most scientists were bewildered by his proposal.
But in recent years, several studies have found that women working at night for many years are indeed more prone to breast cancer, and that animals who have their light-dark schedules switched grow more cancerous tumors and die quicker.
Some research has also shown that men working at night may have a higher rate of prostate cancer.
Because these studies have been done mainly in nurses and airline crews, bigger studies in different populations are needed to confirm or disprove the findings.
The idea that shift work might increase your cancer risk is still viewed with skepticism by some, but many doubters will likely be won over when IARC publishes the results of its analysis, the result of an expert panel convened in October, in the December issue of The Lancet Oncology.
It was weird the way things worked out. I was with my Employer for 13 years and did night shift the whole time. After I left, and within 6 months I found out that I have pre-cancerous cells in my right breast. This article doesn't surprise me at all, but I won't blame my lack of sleep on why I got it in the first place - Things are random and life throws crap at you regardless. So I'm not going to look for the reasoning behind why I got it. BUT I DO know that Doctor's have been very adamant with me to make sure I get proper rest and sleep. Physical exhaustion leads to physical stress and the body struggles to do what it is being told. So I make sure to get sleep where I can - And I would never work night shift ever again. It literally pulled me apart for years.
Yes. I've seen a couple of studies that show that. I consider my shift differential "hazard pay."
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