Shiftwork and Insulin Resistance in Professional Drivers
Summary
This study looked at almost 400 male drivers in Egypt to see whether working night shifts was linked to problems with how the body handles blood sugar. Compared to drivers who worked daytime hours, night-shift drivers showed stronger signs of insulin resistance — a condition where the body has a harder time using insulin effectively, and an early warning sign for type 2 diabetes. The risks were even higher for night-shift drivers who also had trouble sleeping or irregular eating habits, such as skipping breakfast or eating late at night. While the study can’t prove cause and effect, it highlights how disrupted schedules, poor sleep, and off-timed meals may combine to strain the body’s metabolism.
Why It Matters For Night Shift Workers and Night Owls
Among professional drivers in this study, night/shift schedules were tied to measurable signs of insulin resistance, and the association was stronger when sleep was poor or meals were mistimed. Insulin resistance is an early biological signal connected to future type 2 diabetes risk, so findings like these help explain how schedule disruption, insomnia, and late-night eating can show up in routine lab numbers. While this single, cross-sectional study can’t prove causation or speak for every job, it adds evidence that the combination of night work, disturbed sleep, and irregular meals may be an important part of the metabolic story for people who work outside daytime hours.
Notes
PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39819581/