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Health Council advises to work as few night shifts as possible

Health Council advises to work as few night shifts as possible

An impossible piece of advice for some people to follow.

If you work night shifts, you are not alone. In the Netherlands, 1.3 million people sometimes work at night. It was already known before that this leads to risks. According to the Health Council, working night shifts increases your risk of sleeping problems by one and a half to two times.

It also entails risks in the longer term. Working at night increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The longer you do night work, the greater that risk.

In 2006, the Council concluded that there was a link between working at night and breast cancer, but the data from long-term studies and new studies no longer hold that conclusion.