A recent research report in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine concluded that shift workers were 9% more likely to develop diabetes. Among men who worked shifts, the likelihood rose to over 35%; men working rotating shifts had a 42% greater risk of developing diabetes. The Chinese researchers considered 12 previously published studies with a total of over 225,000 people.

Shift work disrupts the sleep-wake cycle, hormones and many body chemicals. The researchers suggested that for men, the hormone testosterone is linked to circadian rhythms, and lower levels of testosterone are associated with the development of diabetes.

While the study could not claim a cause and effect relationship, circadian rhythms are defined as those based on a 24-hour cycle: our daily rhythms of life and internal clock. And these are of course determined by the Sun! While this is, strictly speaking, not astrology, it shows that our health is directly linked to our experience of the Sun’s cycle.