Just under 9 million people work the night shift in America, according to most estimates, including many reading these words.

Now, research shows that working against natural body sleep patterns can contribute to serious health consequences.

But some local people the Daily News talked to don’t believe serious health consequences occur when the worker takes care to eat right, exercise and adjust his or her sleep patterns to meet work demands. Still, the night shift is a physical and mental challenge, and the so-called “graveyard shift,” working through the night when others are asleep, is even more daunting to work.

“I always tell them to eat right, avoid fast food, eat healthy food and drink plenty of water,” said Capt. Matt Edwards of the Bowling Green Police Department. Edwards trains city police officers and has worked and supervised night shifts.

The battle of working odd hours is sparked by the needs of the so-called ‘body clock’ versus the needs of the job.

“The circadian rhythm is a cycle that tells our bodies when to sleep, rise, eat – many physiological processes,” according to PsychologyToday.com.

Sunlight and temperature can knock the circadian rhythm out of whack, according to experts. 

“When one’s circadian rhythm is disrupted, sleeping and eating patterns can run amok. A growing body of research examines the adverse health effects a disrupted circadian rhythm can have, like increasing the chances of cardiovascular events, obesity and a correlation with neurological problems like depression and bipolar disorder,” PsychologyToday.com noted.

The evidence is mounting, one expert noted.

“There is strong evidence that shift work is related to a number of serious health conditions, like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity,” Frank Scheer, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, recently told WebMD.com. “These differences we’re seeing can’t just be explained by lifestyle or socioeconomic status.”

Shift work is also linked to stomach problems and ulcers, depression and an increased risk of accidents or injury, the WebMD.com report noted.

Edwards said he doesn’t think working the night shift is any more hazardous physically than any other police shift for the city.

Night shift police officers have certain work duties built into the shift that keep the workflow steady and if a new officer on the night shift is out, Edwards will make a point of checking with him or her by phone during the midpoint of the so-called “graveyard” shift.

The officers can choose to walk a beat in the early morning hours if the call volume that evening and morning is low, Edwards said. The officer may walk the beat with another officer of a nearby patrol district in the city, Edwards said.

The officers also can focus during the nocturnal shift on areas of the city that may have been recently plagued by burglaries or break-ins, he said.

The city police have three work shifts, labeled A, B and C, said city police spokesman Officer Ronnie Ward. “A” shift is from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., “B” shift is from 2:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. and “C” shift is from 11 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., Ward said.

“Every one of the shifts has its advantages,” Ward said. “Several who work night shift love it and don’t want to work anything else,” Ward said.

City police personnel bid on shifts by seniority twice a year – in December and in June – with those rotations taking effect in January and July, Ward said.

There are 116 people working for the Bowling Green Police Department.

Stephen Harmon, division manager for the support services division of the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, said certainly, deputies assigned to third shift are presented challenges.

“Family life is affected and bodies are forced to adapt to a (work) schedule that is not necessarily natural,” Harmon said.

The sheriff’s department personnel also work three shifts: 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; 3 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.; and 11 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., Harmon said.

The sheriff’s department’s 97 personnel work for Warren County Sheriff Jerry “Peanuts” Gaines, according to the state law, Harmon said, and while there is not a bidding process for shifts, the employees are spread over the three shifts to keep the experience factor in the field a constant.

For one employee of Tri-Star Greenview Regional Hospital in Bowling Green, working the graveyard shift is a plus.

Lisa Nicewinter, a third-shift emergency room nurse, likes the idea.

“Working as a night nurse has many advantages for me and my family,” Nicewinter said in an email to the newspaper. “Not only can it be more lucrative, it helps balance my family life allowing me more time with my children and grandchildren,” Nicewinter said.

“Often, night shift has less support staff, so we become more independent and confident, yet share a camaraderie like no other,” she said.

— Follow business reporter Charles A. Mason on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.