Staying Awake At Night May Lead To Cancer? Expert Decodes

Many people in today’s era work night shifts. Due to various reasons, people are nowadays accustomed to staying awake till late at night. If you are someone who also stays awake till late at night then you should be careful, as disrupting night sleep can lead to cancer. This was revealed by a recent research. According to reports, this happens because of a certain hormone. This hormone disrupts the biological clock cycle, which can significantly increase the risk of some serious diseases like breast, colon, ovary, and prostate cancer. Not only this, it also affects the entire body. Dr Dinesh Pendharkar, Director of the Oncology Department and cancer specialist at Sarvodaya Hospital, New Delhi explained that the hormone melatonin is responsible for this. Dr Dinesh Pendharkar, said, “The melatonin hormone is released more at night. It is secreted from the brain and helps to relax the entire body forcing the body to deep sleep. If the hormonal cycle gets affected, it impacts the whole body. Several studies have found that this hormone is directly linked with diseases like colorectal, prostate, breast, gastric, ovarian, lung, and oral cancers. If someone stays awake during the night, the level of melatonin decreases significantly, which can lead to cancer.”

The study found various direct connections between the melatonin hormone and cancer. Melatonin is not so much secreted during the daytime. Its production increases in the dark. Melatonin activates the immune response against cancer, which leads to the destruction of cancer cells, reducing metastasis. The most important thing is that this hormone repairs the damaged DNA, which is the main reason for cancer. If melatonin production is proper, it repairs any DNA damage. This is why melatonin therapy is also used to treat cancer.

Dr Dinesh Pendharkar further stated that it is essential for each and everyone of us to maintain a proper sleep cycle. Good and deep sleep is very important for the human body. Before sleeping, one should turn off the lights in the room and avoid using mobile phones because the blue light emitted from them harms the eyes and disrupts melatonin production, the doctor advised.