<p>If you are a shift worker, donating blood could be an easy way to reduce the risk of heart disease, says a study.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The high incidence of heart disease seen in shift workers could be due to the tiredness resulting from the disruption to the body's biological clock as jetlag has a severe effect on red blood cells.<br /><br />These effects can be counterbalanced by fresh, young red blood cells - making blood donations a potential therapy for shift workers, the findings showed.<br /><br />"Blood donations in humans also stimulate the generation of new fresh erythrocytes. <br /><br />Therefore, blood donations on a regular basis might be a very simple measure to help decrease the cardiovascular risk in human shift workers," said Margit Egg from University of Innsbruck in Austria.<br /><br />The scientists worked on zebrafish (Danio rerio), a model organism which, like humans, is active during the day.<br /><br />The fish were subjected to alternate short (seven hour) and long (21 hour) days, resembling shift patterns common in industry.<br /><br />It was found that "jet-lagged" animals showed higher numbers of aged red blood cells, which accumulated in the blood vessels.<br /><br />"Normally there is a balance between newly produced red blood cells and old ones which are removed from the blood," Egg noted.<br /><br />Old cells are less flexible and become stuck in the spleen and liver, where they are engulfed by white blood cells.<br /><br />Jetlag appears to disrupt this removal process.<br /></p>
<p>If you are a shift worker, donating blood could be an easy way to reduce the risk of heart disease, says a study.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The high incidence of heart disease seen in shift workers could be due to the tiredness resulting from the disruption to the body's biological clock as jetlag has a severe effect on red blood cells.<br /><br />These effects can be counterbalanced by fresh, young red blood cells - making blood donations a potential therapy for shift workers, the findings showed.<br /><br />"Blood donations in humans also stimulate the generation of new fresh erythrocytes. <br /><br />Therefore, blood donations on a regular basis might be a very simple measure to help decrease the cardiovascular risk in human shift workers," said Margit Egg from University of Innsbruck in Austria.<br /><br />The scientists worked on zebrafish (Danio rerio), a model organism which, like humans, is active during the day.<br /><br />The fish were subjected to alternate short (seven hour) and long (21 hour) days, resembling shift patterns common in industry.<br /><br />It was found that "jet-lagged" animals showed higher numbers of aged red blood cells, which accumulated in the blood vessels.<br /><br />"Normally there is a balance between newly produced red blood cells and old ones which are removed from the blood," Egg noted.<br /><br />Old cells are less flexible and become stuck in the spleen and liver, where they are engulfed by white blood cells.<br /><br />Jetlag appears to disrupt this removal process.<br /></p>