2023-06-16 04:39:00
(CNN) — People who prefer to go to bed and wake up later — a sleep chronotype known as night owl — may die sooner from the bad habits they develop when they stay up late, according to a new study.
“The increased risk of mortality associated with being a clearly ‘night owl’ appears to be primarily explained by higher tobacco and alcohol consumption. This is true compared to those who are clearly ‘morning’ people,” Christer Hublin, author of the study, said in a statement. study and researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki.
The study, published Friday in the journal Chronobiology Internationalis a continuation of the Finnish study of 2002 twin cohorts. The new study followed nearly 24,000 twins from 1981 to 2018 in an effort to tease out the causes of health and disease-related behaviors.
When the study began, each twin was asked to choose one of these categories: I am clearly a morning person/ I am somewhat a morning person/ I am clearly a night person/ I am somewhat a night person.
Only 10% of the twins described themselves as definitely nocturnal, while 33% said they preferred to stay up late to some extent. More than 29% were clearly morning-eaters, while another 27.7% described themselves as somewhat inclined to prefer mornings.
For the new study, the researchers analyzed the death records of a subset (8,728 participants) of the original study. After adjusting the data for education level, alcohol consumption, smoking, body mass level and sleep duration, the study found that being a night owl increased the risk of premature death by approximately 9%. compared to the morning types, which are often called larks.
“We have known for some time that those with a preference for the night type are more likely to drink more, have alcohol use disorders, and are also more likely to use other substances, including tobacco,” says Dr. Bhanu Prakash Kolla, a specialist in Sleep Medicine from the Mayo Clinic Sleep Medicine Center in Rochester, Minnesota, who was not involved in the study.
However, a 9% increase in the risk of premature death is significant, he added, leaving room for other ways in which being a night owl might increase the risk of mortality.
“Other possible causes I can think of are that night-types probably have to get up early for work or school, so they end up getting less sleep, and sleep deprivation may increase risk,” Kolla explains in an email. electronic.
Your sleep chronotype
Everyone has a 24-hour internal body clock, or circadian rhythm, that regulates the release of the hormone melatonin to promote sleep.
Your personal dream chronotype, which is believed to be hereditary, you can determine when that process occurs. If you’re a born early riser, your circadian rhythm releases melatonin much earlier than normal, giving you energy to be more active in the morning.
According to experts, early risers tend to do better in school and are more active throughout the day, which may partly explain why studies have found they have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
However, in nocturnal owls the internal clock secretes melatonin much later, causing mornings to be slower and peak activity and alertness to occur later in the followingnoon and evening.
The jury is still out on the risk
Nocturnal owls may be at increased risk of chronic disease, according to previous studies. According to one 2022 investigationnight owls were more sedentary, had lower aerobic fitness, and burned less fat at rest and during activity than early risers.
The night owls were also more likely to be insulin resistant, meaning their muscles needed more insulin to get the energy they needed, according to the study.
Various studies have revealed that night owls are more at risk and are more likely to skip breakfast and eat later. Night owls also have higher levels of visceral body fat in the abdominal region, a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Dr. Phyllis Zee, director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine at Chicago’s Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who reviewed the 2022 study for CNN, stated at the time that “there is compelling evidence that having a Late sleep has been linked to an increased risk of metabolic and cardiovascular disease.”
“Several mechanisms have been proposed — sleep loss, circadian misalignment, eating later in the day, and being exposed to less morning light and more night light — that have been shown to affect insulin sensitivity,” said Zee, who she is also a professor of Neurology at Northwestern.
Can the chronotype be modified?
If being a night owl worries you, there are things you can do to flip the switch from night to day, at least a bit, Zee previously told CNN: “It’s like you have a gene for diabetes, right? You can modify it with your lifestyle, but it doesn’t change it.”
First of all, start with light, lots of light, as soon as the alarm goes off. Use natural sunlight if possible, or turn on artificial lights, especially those in the blue spectrum, which signal the body to wake up.
“The strongest reset for the circadian system is bright light,” says Zee. “Morning light changes the oscillation of circadian clock genes at the cellular and molecular level. You’re also training all your rhythms, whether it’s sleep, blood pressure, heart rate, or your cortisol rhythm to be earlier.” “.
Switch things up at night, too, Zee says, eliminating bright light sources much earlier to help your body start producing melatonin. That is, no TV, laptops or smart displays, unless you use a filter that turns blue light to amber or reddish-orange, which do not suppress melatonin.
Another tip: At night, eat well before your preferred time, says Zee: “My rule of thumb: stop eating within three hours of bedtime.” Move your exercise routine to the morning or early followingnoon, and also avoid strenuous exercise in the evening.
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