Erhard Haus

TL;DR: The possible multiple and interconnected cancer-promoting mechanisms as a consequence of shift work are examined, i.e., repeated disruption of the circadian system, pineal hormone melatonin suppression by exposure to light at night, sleep-deprivation-caused impairment of the immune system, plus metabolic changes favoring obesity and generation of proinflammatory reactive oxygen species.

TL;DR: The implications of the pathophysiology of phase shift and phase adaptation for long-term health effects and for the design of ergonomic work schedules minimizing the adverse health effects upon the worker are discussed.

TL;DR: It is recognised that for further domains of non-day shifts and shift schedules to be identified, more research needs to be conducted on the impact of various shift schedules and routines on physiological and circadian rhythms of workers in real-world environments.

TL;DR: The response of the immune system to introduction of an antigen and to challenge of the sensitized organism varies in extent in the circadian frequency range and also in lower frequencies, for example, of about a week (circaseptan) or seasonally (circannual).

TL;DR: This volume demonstrates how important natural time cycles can be for diagnosis and treatment in today's clinical and laboratory medicine.