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Science

Late To Bed, Early To Die? Night Owls May Die Sooner (livescience.com) 217

Posted by msmash from the psa dept.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Bad news for "night owls": Those who tend to stay up late and sleep in well past sunrise are at increased risk of early death, a new study from the United Kingdom suggests. The research, which involved nearly half a million people, found that self-described "evening people" were 10 percent more likely to die over a 6.5-year period, compared with self-described morning people. The findings add to a growing body of research that suggests that being a night owl could have negative effects on health. Many of these effects may be attributable to a misalignment between a person's internal clock, or circadian rhythm, and the socially imposed timing of work and other activities, the researchers said. "'Night owls' trying to live in a 'morning lark' world may have health consequences for their bodies," study co-author Kristen Knutson, an associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a statement.
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Late To Bed, Early To Die? Night Owls May Die Sooner

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  • "sleep past sunrise increased risk of early death" (Score:5, Funny)

    by JoeyRox ( 2711699 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @09:46AM (#56424309)
    If one sleeps past sunrise then dies then his death would be late rather than early :)

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by lgw ( 121541 )

      Early to rise, early to bed
      Makes a man poor, stupid and dead.

    • If one sleeps past sunrise then dies then his death would be late rather than early :)

      Unless he died in his sleep. B-)

      I run on "substandard time" and always intended to be late to my funeral.

      (So I joined a cryonics organization. That way I get to compound the pun by making it literal.)

  • No wonder (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @09:46AM (#56424311)

    To even get out of bed in time we have to add unhealthy chemicals to our body that increase our blood pressure. Stop messing with the damn clock and let me come to work around 1pm and I'll be fine.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Actually caffeine doesn't raise your blood pressure, it widens your blood vessels which lowers it. Your body's natural homeostatic reaction constricts it back, which is reasonably healthy in moderation. Anything can be unhealthy done too much.

      • Actually caffeine doesn't raise your blood pressure, it widens your blood vessels which lowers it.

        And three to five cups a day have been shown to substantially extend average lifespan. (And it's not "sick people tend to give up caffeine", like the little down-bump in death rateat one alcoholic drink per day proved to be.) So my (quite reputed) cardiologist PRESCRIBED a couple cups of coffee per day for me. B-)

        Personally, I like to start the day with a warm shower. That way I get my body temp up without

    • Re:No wonder (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Roogna ( 9643 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @02:52PM (#56426841)

      This exactly. As a natural night owl, when I'm in situations where I'm able to stick to my natural body clock, go to bed late, and wake up later. I feel refreshed and awake.

      Do I normally get to go to bed late and wake up late? No. In our current society I've spent the majority of my life having to get up early and then trying to force myself to sleep early. Not to mention time changes, and everything else the world does to try and mess with anyone deemed not on some random "perfect" schedule. There's no way being exhausted all the time is healthy for anyone.

      But give me a couple weeks of vacation and the majority of that is spent going to bed at 3-4am, waking up whenever, and feeling better than ever.

  • Correlation =\= Causation (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jahoda ( 2715225 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @09:47AM (#56424321)
    I remember a time on the "old" Slashdot when articles like this never hit the front page. Thr article itself seems to give no indication that we are controlling for diet, excercise, other health factors. Just "welp people who are night owls are more likely to die". annecdotally, the times in my life when I was up until 4 AM and sleeping until 2-3 were certainly not the periods where I maintained my health responsibly.

    • Re:Correlation =\= Causation (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 12, 2018 @10:00AM (#56424423)

      I couldn't agree more. I think its more likely that people who tend to stay up late and sleep in are associated with more risk taking behavior.

      "Death" is a hell of a test factor for an experiment, especially irrespective of cause.

      That said, i bet if we dug into the data there's way better clickbait titles to be mined in there.
      If someone contracted herpes during the experiment, would sleeping in increase your chances of getting herpes?
      How about buying a new car?
      If you sleep in are you more likely to buy a Ford?

      If i were to completely unscientifically and sight unseen postulate an actual takeaway from a study like this, I would bet that most of these "night owls" work part time or multiple jobs. That is a data point that I would be more interested in.

      • The summary was poor. Sleeping in didn't increase death. A person with a night owl circadian rytheme being forced to sleep and live in a manner that matches a day larks circadian rhythm resulted in increased death. Day larks should be awake and work during the day, night owls should sleep during the day and work at night. Post offices, doctors offices, dmv's, restaurants, etc generally only allow for one of these rhythms to exist without regular disruption.

    • Re:Correlation =\= Causation (Score:5, Informative)

      by obenchainr ( 817684 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @10:04AM (#56424439)
      Actually, the research article itself covers this. From the abstract:

      "The primary outcomes were all-cause mortality and mortality due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Prevalent disease was also compared among the chronotype groups. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, smoking, body mass index, sleep duration, socioeconomic status and comorbidities. Greater eveningness, particularly being a definite evening type, was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of all comorbidities." [Emphasis mine]

      Association is of course not causation, and the abstract doesn't imply causation at all beyond the obvious and already-stated: "Mortality risk in evening types may be due to behavioural, psychological, and physiological risk factors, many of which may be attributable to chronic misalignment between internal physiological timing and externally imposed timing of work and social activities. These findings suggest the need for researching possible interventions aimed at either modifying circadian rhythms in individuals or at allowing evening types greater working hour flexibility."

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        You realize that essentially says nothing right?
        Pay attention the the clear effort to avoid making any concrete assertions.

        "Mortality risk in evening types MAY be due to behavioural, psychological, and physiological risk factors, MANY OF WHICH MAY be attributable to chronic misalignment between internal physiological timing and externally imposed timing of work and social activities. These findings suggest the need for researching possible interventions aimed at either modifying circadian rhythms in individ

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Anonymous Coward

          ...just trying to start a conversation.

      • Re: Correlation =\= Causation (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Miamicanes ( 730264 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @11:42AM (#56425421)

        The biggest problem "night owls" have is living in a society that forces them to live in a state of life-long sleep-deprivation if they have any kind of normal job.

        I just don't get tired naturally until 2 or 3am. I can fall asleep earlier if I'm sleep-deprived, but THEN my body treats it like an afternoon nap... I'll wake up 3-5 hours later, then be unable to fall asleep again until dawn. My earliest sustainable go-to-bed time is ~12:30am (with Ambien & melatonin).

        I worked happily for years at a company that let me work 11-7 (usually a little later, but I didn't mind). I rarely got sick & did the best work in my life. Sadly, the company didn't survive The Great Recession.

        I later worked for 2 months at a job that required me to get up at 6:30am... it damn near killed me. I was getting sick enough to need antibiotics every 2-3 weeks (mostly strep & sinus infections), crashed & burned into Friday night, and didn't start to feel "not awful" until Sunday... and then the hell began started again. My short-term memory went down the toilet & took months to heal after I quit.

        By week 4 of my hellish early-morning job, I was having worse & worse muscle cramps... first, randomly at night. Then, sitting at my desk. Then at completely random moments, including driving or just walking. I'm convinced I was weeks away from having a heart attack that would basically have been just another muscle cramp, and probably would have literally died if I'd kept it up.

        • The biggest problem "night owls" have is living in a society that forces them to live in a state of life-long sleep-deprivation if they have any kind of normal job.

          Boy, isn't THAT the truth!

          • Not just if they have any kind of normal job but because everyone being forced into day larks hours means they can't do business at any of the places that employee others who work those jobs. Great, work the night shift, you still can't go to restaurant, attend your nieces birthday party, go a funeral, mail a letter, get a permit to build a shed, work with a contractor, etc etc etc without sleep deprivation.

          • Incidentally, there's abundant evidence that magnesium deficiency is a bigger risk factor for having a heart attack than cholesterol or fat.

            Chronic sleep deprivation frequently results in magnesium-depletion.

            Magnesium is what signals your muscles to relax. That's why cramps are easy to trigger when you're magnesium-deficient... muscles get the signal to contract... and do... but don't get the signal to relax, so they keep pulling as hard as they can. And often, opposing bundles of muscle start to pull simul

            • Just a thot: magnesium acetate is more bioavailable and so less likely to loosen the bowels (because the mag doesn't get that far).

              I mix magnesium laxative (e.g. Milk of Magnesia) 1:4 in apple cider vinegar and mix an ounce of the solution into a liter of water that I drink from throughout the day. Works fine with no worries.

              • Just a thot: magnesium acetate is more bioavailable and so less likely to loosen the bowels (because the mag doesn't get that far).

                I mix magnesium laxative (e.g. Milk of Magnesia) 1:4 in apple cider vinegar and mix an ounce of the solution into a liter of water that I drink from throughout the day. Works fine with no worries.

                Thanks for the tip; but that sounds REALLY vile... And I LIKE Apple Cider Vinegar!

                • It's not something I'd order at a bar, but it's within the realm of tolerable for most folks. Just avoid the flavored MoM -- the cherry flavor is particularly disgusting in this solution.

                  • It's not something I'd order at a bar, but it's within the realm of tolerable for most folks. Just avoid the flavored MoM -- the cherry flavor is particularly disgusting in this solution.

                    I'd imagine the mint wouldn't be so hot, either...

        • Re: Correlation =\= Causation (Score:4, Interesting)

          by StuartHankins ( 1020819 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @02:50PM (#56426833)
          Get checked for sleep apnea. That was why I was initially staying up... and drinking more than I should have in an effort to get sleepy enough to go to bed. It's a vicious cycle... Now I'm sleepy earlier and get up easier.

        • "Everyone else gets here on time every day..."

          Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder is a one of the big reasons I've been self employed for a couple o' decades now. I fought the disorder for years because society demanded it, but all I got for it was more and more burned out and far more susceptible to troublesome bouts of insomnia lasting as long as a month. Insomnia beyond about two weeks makes it completely impossible to live up to normal expectations and feels like slowly dying. There's no such thing as a job th

    • In addition to this, there seem to be no checks of the hypothesis either. If people with disrupted circadian rhythms are more likely to die then the life expectancy of frequent flyers who regularly have to deal with jet lag should similarly be impacted and yet they did not seem bothered to check that. This study seems to be a good example of cargo cult science.
    • Yep, empty research with clickbait title ... like ... we've seen 10 times in the last year, contradicting each other. We shouldn't even react to those stupid articles, but I guess the troll is too strong.
    • The summary almost tries to hides the why. Probably for the same reason many people misread the bit about circadian rhythm. Not long ago it was believed everyone had the same circadian rhythm. Much medical literature and treatments, even diseases, are still dependent on this idea. But it has been shown to be false. Night owls are more likely to die because they are forced to conform to a world that is based on a day larks circadian rhythm rather than a night owls.

      The only reason society has evolved to match

      • the $64,000 question though is if one's circadian cycle can be adjusted over time.

        If you're born a lark, are you destined to never become a pro-gamer, or simpson's marathon champion?

        (in all seriousness, being a life-long 'night-owl', maintaining a 9-5 schedule has always been a struggle.. so really, if it were possible through diligence and suffering, I'd totally go for it.)

  • I am sick of these articles (Score:3)

    by DaMattster ( 977781 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @09:52AM (#56424359)
    There are any number of ways that you can die. You can die crossing the street so you can't live in fear of death. Wouldn't you rather lead a life that you enjoy versus trying to live for ever? We are only meant to spend a finite amount of time on this earth so you might as well do what you want, within reason. Articles like these remind me of the news filler stuff about coffee and chocolate. One day they're good for you, the next oh the horrors.

  • Other factors (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ranton ( 36917 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @09:54AM (#56424381)

    The researchers found that the evening people were more likely than the early risers to have poor sleep quality and unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, sedentary lifestyles and eating late at night, Kim said. The night owls also tended to be younger, but were more likely to have high levels of body fat and triglycerides, or fats in their blood, than early risers. (Having high levels of fat is usually associated with older age.)

    I wonder if any of these factors could attribute to a higher mortality rate? This study simply states that night owls have a higher rate of unhealthy lifestyle choices.

    I would be more interested in the mortality rates of night owls who do not exhibit these behaviors. But then again there were only 95 night owls in this study, so I doubt you would be able to determine that from such a small sample size.

    • The researchers found that the evening people were more likely than the early risers to have poor sleep quality and unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, sedentary lifestyles and eating late at night, Kim said. The night owls also tended to be younger, but were more likely to have high levels of body fat and triglycerides, or fats in their blood, than early risers. (Having high levels of fat is usually associated with older age.)

      I wonder if any of these factors could attribute to a higher mortality rate? This study simply states that night owls have a higher rate of unhealthy lifestyle choices.

      I would be more interested in the mortality rates of night owls who do not exhibit these behaviors. But then again there were only 95 night owls in this study, so I doubt you would be able to determine that from such a small sample size.

      This entire study is pseudoscience at its worst. Or best. However you parse that phrase; I'm too sleepy to figure it out...

  • A "morning lark" world (Score:4, Insightful)

    by b0s0z0ku ( 752509 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @09:56AM (#56424395)
    Why is the world designed for "morning larks?" We have telecommuting, electric light, etc -- not all jobs need to be done on 18th century farmers' hours. Is this just the human knack for self flagellation?

    • Re:A "morning lark" world (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @10:26AM (#56424643)

      The puritan bullshit thinking. If you're sleeping, you can't be productive and thus you're BAD. And since they're already sleeping again ("after a hard day's work") when you're at peak performance, they don't see you work so you're BAD.

    • Re:A "morning lark" world (Score:4, Insightful)

      by cyberchondriac ( 456626 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @10:43AM (#56424807) Journal

      We have all that now, but a million years or more of evolution have trained our bodies to be more sunlight synchronized. Think of the research stations at the poles where there's a very real concern of depression and it's accompanying conditions without sunlight.

      That said, no judging from here; I've always been a bit of a night owl myself, but not to a great extent. On weeknights I'm usually in bed by 11:30pm and on weekends, I stay up another hour, maybe two, depending. 2am is the latest and that's rare.
      Or maybe it's just more accurate to say I'm definitely not a morning person. I tend to sleep quite soundly at 7am or later, if allowed. Sometimes I even feel drowsier just as the sun starts to come up.

      • "We have all that now, but a million years or more of evolution have trained our bodies to be more sunlight synchronized."

        Recent research has indicated this is false. Mere thousands of years of agricultural based society have attuned our artificial environment to revolve around sun cycles. People do not all share a "day lark" rhythm. It is questionable that most even do given the prevalence of alarm clocks to get up for early work start times.

        The summary is badly written, probably with the bias of a day lar
      • Historically humans may have hunted or stood guard against predators at night. Thus, there was a use for both "larks" and "owls."

    • Why is the world designed for "morning larks?" We have telecommuting, electric light, etc -- not all jobs need to be done on 18th century farmers' hours. Is this just the human knack for self flagellation?

      Because of children and parents. Sorry if you think that's discriminatory, but life must go on.

      • Why should children be forced by schools to have the sleep schedules of an 18th century farmer? School hours track employment hours, not vice versa.
      • As a parent I assure you that children start out on a polyphasic round the clock sleep cycle of about 2hr duration. It is actually parents who start guiding their sleep schedule with a great deal of difficulty from there.

        Children get up early because they go to bed early, they go to bed early so their parents can have a couple hours to themselves, or even to more easily accomplish chores without having to juggle managing them.

    • Re:A "morning lark" world (Score:5, Insightful)

      by CohibaVancouver ( 864662 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @11:59AM (#56425595)

      Why is the world designed for "morning larks?"

      It's not. Movies start at 7:30 or 8, not 6pm. Lots of good TV dramas don't start until 10pm - Heck, Seth Meyers doesn't even come on until 12:35am (to be sure, less of a concern in this era of PVRs). Most restaurants don't even open until 8am on weekends. What breakfast at 6:30am? Unless you want an Egg McMuffin or your have a 24-hour Denny's nearby, ferget it. If your friends invite you out, you're considered a lame weirdo if you need to be home by 11.

      • Most restaurants close by 9pm. Most offices close by 6pm. Government services definitely close by 6pm. In fact, most towns are effectively dark by 10pm and even the vast majority of options in cities are shut down by 10pm. Day cares don't usually have night hours, your options for classes in school are certainly slim to non-existent. What you mention are examples of things slowly changing but alarm clocks are for people who aren't morning larks and that is most people.

        If you are "morning lark" or day walker

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by darkain ( 749283 )

      Exactly this. It isn't staying up late that is harming people's health. It is forcing those with biological clocks that don't conform to societal standards of 9-5 that is harming people's healths. If more companies realized this and shifted non-time-critical work around this (most non-retail jobs), things would run a hell of a lot more efficiently. I know as a software engineer, I do my best coding work at around the 8PM to Midnight hours, but the company I'm at shifted me from "work from home at your own s

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by xlsior ( 524145 )

      Why is the world designed for "morning larks?" We have telecommuting, electric light, etc -- not all jobs need to be done on 18th century farmers' hours. Is this just the human knack for self flagellation?

      No, it's because when people get older, their sleep schedule often changes as well, and they tend to rise earlier. At the same time, most people in management positions tend to be older, and it's management that dictate the working schedule.

  • Assuming the study is valid, the real question is whether it's unhealthy to be a night owl, or that it's unhealthy to be a night owl with the structure of our society. Lefties live shorter lives too, not because there's anything inherently wrong with being a lefty, but because society is built around right-handed people.

    • Assuming the study is valid, the real question is whether it's unhealthy to be a night owl, or that it's unhealthy to be a night owl with the structure of our society.

      The way I read the article, it's the latter, though it's not very clear.

      In general, I find it amazing how governments and businesses are willing to sacrifice the working performance of people in the name of conforming office hours. All this talk about increasing competition and efficiency, and yet only a few companies are letting people work in ways they perform the best.

      • I thought it was pretty clear, myself. From TFS:

        Many of these effects may be attributable to a misalignment between a person's internal clock, or circadian rhythm, and the socially imposed timing of work and other activities, the researchers said. "'Night owls' trying to live in a 'morning lark' world may have health consequences for their bodies ...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Indeed. Forcing an Owl to raise early causes jet-lag. It is absolutely no surprise this impacts health.

    • Also, most night owls are able to switch over to more "normal" hours, so to a large extent this is a study of people who can't change their circadian rhythms.

  • What if something is causing you to stay up late? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by shess ( 31691 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @10:04AM (#56424437) Homepage

    Linked articles don't really have anything on things which might co-exist with staying up late. For instance, in mortality cases, did staying up late cause health issues leading to death, or was there a health issue which made it hard to sleep which also eventually caused death? Does stress affect sleep? Does staying up late correlate with lack of exercise? The list could go on and on. Without a mechanism, it's silly/stupid to suggest modifying things like the job market to fix the problem. It's comparable to saying "Cholesterol is bad, you should be really careful about eating eggs."

  • New Tax Announced (Score:5, Funny)

    by Going_Digital ( 1485615 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @10:11AM (#56424515)
    Ministers will soon be announcing a "ground-breaking" late-to-bed tax to come into force in the UK. The new Tax will ensure everyone goes to bed before midnight in a bid to improve the heath of all UK citizens and boost the UK economy. Public Health England also hopes it will improve the health of children.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      late-to-bed tax

      We don't have to go that far. Just make sure that all electronic devices display this [pinimg.com] after 11:00 PM.

  • I believe it (Score:3)

    by DeplorableCodeMonkey ( 4828467 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @10:19AM (#56424587)

    I was a night owl, and then my job started forcing me to do to 7 to 3. That means I'm often up at 5AM to comfortably get ready for work and have a non-shitty commute (ie 30 minutes, not 1.5 hours). I relented and started making a point of trying to be asleep by 9PM every night.

    A lot of things mentally, emotionally and physically started bouncing back to normal. I had attributed a lot of it to caffeine, but it turned out that if I get 7+ hours of sleep on a forced early bird schedule, caffeine barely phases me in the mid afternoon. It really is that much about sleep schedule and length, nothing else.

    • I faced the same problem.

      I changed jobs.

      No job is worth bending over backwards for it. I'm good enough to write the rules. You don't like me coming in at 10-11, I find someone who does.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gweihir ( 88907 )

        Same here, with occasional exceptions. The nice thing about consulting work (not body-leasing) is that you can always claim to have that time in the early morning already sold to another customer...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      If you are an Owl, you cannot do that. Sounds very much like you were a Lark that just abused his body. For a genuine Owl, raising early just puts them into perpetual jet-lag.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by PPH ( 736903 )

        If you are an Owl, you cannot do that.

        Late-night partiers and gamers claim disability status in 3...2...1...

  • I think the article implies that simply staying up late means you get less sleep and therefor are less healthy, but it could also be that people who prefer late to bed and late to rise tend to snack more at night and, in more general ways, have unhealthier lifestyles.

    On the other hand, I agree wholeheartedly that night owls should be allowed to be at work later than their early bird counterparts. I'm good with working later, too.

  • Shift Worker (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tquasar ( 1405457 ) on Thursday April 12, 2018 @10:33AM (#56424715)
    I worked rotating shifts for fifteen years. One location changed shifts every week, another changed monthly. It was terrible. There were times that I didn't know if it was six AM or six PM. I couldn't eat at night because my stomach wouldn't digest food at two AM and when I had breakfast at seven AM and went to bed I would experience GERD. Now my sleep times are mostly normal.

  • Seriously. The incessant attempts of the Larks to demonstrate their superiority over the Owls is just tiring and stupid. I will continue to ignore them, in particular because there is nothing wrong with being an Owl and there is no way to change it anyways. Because one thing is for sure: A major reason for this difference is the fault of the Larks. They are forcing Owls to get up when they have not yet finished sleeping. It is really no surprise that impacts health.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      because there is nothing wrong with being an Owl

      TFA says that there is.

      and there is no way to change it anyways

      Maybe not now that you are an adult. But remember when you were a teenager and people told you that you needed to learn to adjust your sleep cycle to the realities of the educational and working world? And how you all cried and moaned about how that was not possible? If it really isn't possible, genetics dealt you a shitty hand. Enjoy your sundowner syndrome, dementia, early onset Alzheimer's and death. But wouldn't it really suck if this behavior was in fact learned and you could hav

      • Such an excellent example of what GP wrote about.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sjames ( 1099 )

        New plan, we'll give you a call at 2 A.M. for nightly meetings where we can discuss it fully.

  • I think worrying about what they're talking about this week that will kill you will probably kill you faster than not even taking that click-bait, and just living as pleasant a life as you can. GO OUTSIDE. That'll probably mitigate all this bullshit they keep trotting out in any event.
  • The Early bird gets the worm.

    The Early worm gets eaten by the bird.

    Night owls might die sooner, but the make most of their life. The early birders get up early, show up for appointment on time and wait for the masters of the world, us, night owls, to show up late. They waste so much of their time, the extra years they live is probably not worth it.

    An interesting story from Hindu scriptures. When a childless couple prayed to Lord Shiva, He gave them a choice, a dimwit who will live for 100 years, or a g

  • It's the forcing of night owls into early morning schedules that's killing them. The assholes that say night owls are just being lazy for not aligning to morning hours. I have a suspicion that night owls tend to be more creative and disruptive. In response, there's a sociatal effort to stunt their growth and effect: Sleep deprivation. They start early in public schooling. Reprimand students for their biologically induced tardiness. The sleep deprivation affects studies, lowering grades, and again they're

  • Late to bed and early to rise.... Makes it hard to keep open your eyes!

    Closed eyes lead to early death when driving, working, walking, running, and doing just about any daytime activity.

  • I've recently read studies that show that sleeping in bright (especially UV-lit) conditions harms sleep efficiency. I wonder how much of this test's variance would be explained by that? I have blackout curtains in my bedroom for a reason. (The Live Science article even eludes to this in the researchers' recommendation "that people make sure they're exposed to light early in the morning, but not at nighttime." No mention of whether this was controlled for in the study, but I doubt it.)

    Another similar thought is that of consistent bed times, which are also shown to help sleep efficiency. Night owls are (perhaps) less likely to consistently go to bed at the same time every night while early risers (perhaps) go to sleep --and wake up-- at consistent times. These are guesses though.

  • Night Owl here and loving it. I have a 25.5 hour body clock .... if I stick to a regular job I'm fighting to get to bed, in fact before 1 AM is quite rare, even when I'm getting up at 6AM for work. It's the ONLY way to keep my body in a 24 hour clock cycle.

    Now that I'm retired, I live the 25.5 life, and don't worry about it. Five to seven hours sleep and I'm up and feeling refreshed. It does mean that sometimes I'm sleeping in the afternoon after burning daylight, night light and morning light, but eventual

  • The only danger to my health is being forced to be a morning person as a condition of continued employment. Used to work a graveyard shift from 10pm - 6am, was never tired. All I can do to stay awake during the day.
  • Night owls are more likely to drink coffee...and studies show that coffee drinkers live longer.
  • There's a lot of pressure in this world to be a "morning lark" as the summary states. But some people just can't do it due to their poor aerobic capacity. The solution is called a treadmill. Once their cardiovascular conditioning gets out of the terribly unhealthy range, they'll be getting up at 4am to makes sure they get to do their running before their kids wake up and then they'll be in the healthy group.

  • Appropriate Banksy quote: "People who get up early in the morning cause war, death and famine."

    What were the causes of death for people who stay up late?

  • I don't see any mention of seeing if this early night owl death effect is exactly because the entire social and work structure is set up to be detrimental to night owls ?

    Surely night owls have additional stress because work timings in general are completely ill-suited to the night own circadian rhythm.

  • Vitamin D protects against cancer, and you make it by getting sunlight on your skin. The dirty secret about tanning beds is that they do increase the risk of melanoma very slightly, but they decrease the incidence of all other cancers by a factor of about 30 in dark climates. It's no wonder that Obamacare's first tax was against tanning beds - Medicare is too damn expensive.

  • There are three kinds of people. One, the morning larks, who get up early, have a fine day, get along with others, and don't mind what others do.

    Then there are the fundamentalist evangelical morning larks, who think they are better than others, are sure that their Morning Lark way of life is perfect and good and proper, and believe everyone else must be beaten into compliance.

    Then of course the night owls, who do fine sticking whatever schedule works for them, but have to put up with the fundamentalist l

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