Shift Work Disrupts Body's Inner Clocks.

• Position: METABOLIC DISORDERS - Brief article

Working night shifts or other nonstandard work schedules increases the risk of becoming obese and developing diabetes and other metabolic disorders, which ultimately raises the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Exactly why this occurs is unclear, but a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has brought researchers closer to finding the answer.

The study dispels the belief that the metabolic disruption in shift workers is driven primarily by the brain's master clock, which normally keeps our bodies on a day-night cycle and uses light cues to synchronize the rhythms of the body's organs and tissues. Instead, the study reveals that separate biological clocks--so-called peripheral oscillators--in the liver, gut, and pancreas have a mind of their own.

"No one knew that biological clocks in...