Night owls have higher risk of dying sooner

People who like to stay up late and have trouble getting up in the morning, popularly known as night owls, have a higher risk of dying sooner than those who go to bed early and rise early. A study conducted by the University of Surrey and Northwestern Medicine in Chicago found that the risk factor was as high as 10 percent.

The study analysed the sleeping habits of nearly half a million participants and found that about 50,000 people in the study sample were more likely to die in the 6½ -year period sampled.

“Night owls trying to live in a morning lark world may have health consequences for their bodies,” said co-lead author Kristen Knutson, associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

This may be the first time that a study was looking at the mortality risk associated with night owls. Previous studies focused on the higher rates of metabolic dysfunction and cardiovascular disease.

“This is a public health issue that can no longer be ignored,” said Malcolm von Schantz, Professor of Chronobiology at the University of Surrey. “We should discuss allowing evening types to start and finish work later, where practical. And we need more research about how we can help evening types cope with the higher effort of keeping their body clock in synchrony with sun time.”

“It could be that people who are up late have an internal biological clock that doesn’t match their external environment,” Knutson said. “It could be psychological stress, eating at the wrong time for their body, not exercising enough, not sleeping enough, being awake at night by yourself, maybe drug or alcohol use. There are a whole variety of unhealthy behaviours related to being up late in the dark by yourself.”

Incidentally, night owls had higher rates of diabetes, psychological disorders and neurological disorders.

Genetics and environment are crucial in deciding whether we are a morning or a night person, but an individual might have some control in transforming from a night owl to a lark.

“You’re not doomed,” Knutson said. “Part of it you don’t have any control over and part of it you might.”

There are certain things one can do to shift behavior. Ensure you are exposed to light early in the morning amd try to keep a regular bedtime. Adopt healthy lifestyle behaviors and accept the fact that sleep times matter.

“If we can recognize these chronotypes are, in part, genetically determined and not just a character flaw, jobs and work hours could have more flexibility for owls,” Knutson said. “They shouldn’t be forced to get up for an 8 a.m. shift. Make work shifts match peoples’ chronotypes. Some people may be better suited to night shifts.”

Knutson and colleagues’ future research will focus on trying to get owls to shift their body clocks. “Then we’ll see if we get improvements in blood pressure and overall health,” she said.

Daylight savings are much more difficult for night owls and according to von Schantz there are already reports of higher incidence of heart attacks following the switch to summer time.

"And we have to remember that even a small additional risk is multiplied by more than 1.3 billion people who experience this shift every year. I think we need to seriously consider whether the suggested benefits outweigh these risks."