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Soul talk
Long term shift work hampers memory
 London: Long-term shift work can help you earn more but it could adversely affect your brain functions, like memory and processing speed, says a research. Disruption of the body clock as a result of shift work could generate physiological stressors, which may in turn affect the functioning of the brain. "The cognitive impairment observed in the present study may have important safety consequences not only for the individuals concerned, but also for society as a whole, given the increasing number of jobs in high hazard situations that are performed at night," the researchers warned. However, the study found that once people stop working in shifts, it is possible for them to recover the memory loss. But it could take five long years. The researchers tracked the cognitive abilities of more than 3,000 people who were either working, or who had retired, at three time points: 1996; 2001; and 2006. The data showed that those who currently, or who had previously, worked shifts had lower scores on memory, and overall brain power. The study appeared in the
British Medical Journal.
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