Working night shifts and the risk of Parkinson's disease

link to news report
link to abstract

Gasp! Night shifts might be protective against Parkinson's? That's what the study is suggesting although the authors and I would be cautious about taking this too far. (in fact I didn't believe it and searched for the scientific journal to be sure). One possibility is that "habitual longer sleep duration may be an earlier marker of Parkinson's disease" going through the other literature apparently sleep disorders are associated with Parkinson's. Although when one considers that smoking might have a protective effect against Parkinson's it might be possible that certain areas of the brain are stimulated(possibly the dopaminergic neurons) and therefore provide protection against this disease.