Night Sentence: Scientists say night owls are at risk of premature death

According to a comprehensive study spanning 37 years, those who wake up late lose the race for life. One study showed that night owls—that is, those who prefer the quiet of midnight to the bustling morning—are more likely to meet their death early. But ScienceAlert writes that it’s not the seizures under the moon that are deadly, but their preferred unhealthy habits—smoking and alcohol.

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A research team led by Christer Hublin of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health conducted a comprehensive analysis of data from 22,976 adult twins in Finland. About half of these participants (42.9 percent) were identified as “evening types”. This classification represents what scientists refer to as the “chronotype”—a person’s innate tendency to be active or sleepy at certain hours.

Previous studies have shown that night owls have a higher risk of death. However, a new study has shown that increased mortality among night owls is not directly related to their chronotype but to the bad habits they tend to indulge in.

Khublin explains, “Our results show that chronotype has little or no effect on mortality. The increased risk of death associated with evening chronotypes is mainly due to higher tobacco and alcohol consumption compared to morning chronotypes.”

In 1981, researchers cataloged their subjects’ chronotypes, and in 2018 they examined mortality from nationwide registries. They meticulously explained factors such as education, body mass index, sleep habits, smoking and drinking habits of each individual.

They found that 8,728 participants passed away in 2018. The risk of dying from any cause in the “evening” group was 9 percent higher than in the “morning” group. Interestingly, night owls who abstained from smoking and heavy drinking did not have an increased risk of death. It turned out that the culprits of additional deaths were tobacco and alcohol, which led to alcohol-related diseases and alcohol poisoning.

Being a night person does not automatically mean poor quality sleep, the two often coexist. Disturbed sleep can cause a whirlwind of mental and physical complications and is associated with nicotine or alcohol addiction.

“There is a reciprocal relationship between the reward system and the circadian system, and levels of alcohol and substance use are associated with a preference for not sleeping at night,” Hublin and colleagues said.

The Finnish study did not find an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease, unlike an earlier study in the United Kingdom. The UK study included a relatively healthy adult population, while the Finnish study was more representative of the health of the general population.

Undoubtedly, more detailed studies involving different demographic groups in different countries will continue to elucidate this intriguing relationship between lifestyle, sleep patterns and mortality. The conclusion that can be drawn from this study, however, is that we should carefully examine our lifestyle, which is most likely related to sleep habits.

According to the research team, “Given the associations between chronotype and lifestyle factors known to increase the risk of early illness and death, the independent contribution of chronotype to mortality is relevant in providing public health recommendations regarding sleep and chronotype.”

Previously Focus He wrote about the dangers of irregular sleep. According to a recently published study, people with irregular sleep patterns are more likely to develop atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque on their artery walls.

Moreover Focus He wrote about the dangers of daytime sleepiness. A new study shows that napping during the day can be not only unhealthy but also extremely dangerous to our health.