Is working at night a health risk for women?

Women who work at night face a higher risk of breast cancer...

ScienceDaily — The results of a study carried out by the researchers of the Inserm unit 1018 (Centre for research in Epidemiology and Population Health) and published in the International Journal of Cancer show that the risk of developing breast cancer is higher among women who have worked at night. The study, carried out in France and named the CECILE study, compared the careers of 1200 women who had developed breast cancer between 2005 and 2008 with the careers of 1300 other women.

Breast cancer is the number one cause of female mortality. It affects 100 out of 100,000 women per year in developed countries. Each year, more than 1.3 million new cases are diagnosed, 53,000 of these in France.

The risk factors of breast cancer are varied. They include genetic mutations, late first pregnancy, low parity or hormone therapy, but other causes of breast cancer such as way of life, environmental or professional causes have not yet been completely identified. Keep on reading...