how to reduce blood lipid?
Another aspect of night shift work is possible susceptibility to chronic disease. For example heart disease is more common in this group. In simulation experiments at Surrey we have found that blood lipid is usually higher after a nighttime meal compared to after the same meal during the day. High blood lipid is associated with increased risk of heart disease. Depending on the contents of the meal, glucose and insulin may also be higher at night- it is likely that this predisposes also to heart disease and possibly diabetes. Recently, at Halley, Jon Lund, the doctor, showed, for the first time we believe, that these changes occur in real shift workers. Our current projects in this area include attempted modification (reduction) of blood lipid at night by bright white light treatment (Jonathan Paddle, data currently being analysed), comparing blood lipid after day and night meals without standardising the meal, and keeping a nutrition record to help interpret the results (Lil Ng, study
