Shift Work, Chronotype, and Melatonin Rhythm in Nurses (NHS II Sub‑study)
Summary
Night shifts and evening chronotype aligned with altered light exposure and suppressed melatonin rhythms in active nurses.
Why It Matters For Night Shift Workers and Night Owls
On‑shift measurements whether melatonin timed before daytime sleep was evident on shift as sleep, alertness, recovery, and metabolic markers for night‑shift workers and night owls. Results help move melatonin from vague sedative to a time‑sensitive tool studied in the context of night schedules. For people who work nights, that frames an everyday choice (when you eat, how you light the end of a shift, how rest is split) as part of the mechanism, not just routine.
Notes
Nurses’ Health Study II sub‑study.