Lifestyle habits cannot be opposed to physical characteristics.

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Editor’s note: Some people are born with “night owls” or “early birds”. In general, night owls face higher health risks, so it is a better habit to go to bed early and get up early. But for people like “extreme night owls”, maybe sleeping late and getting up late is the healthier option. This article is translated from Medium, by Markham Heid, and the original title was “The Dawning Truth about Night Owls”, I hope to inspire you.

As a natural

Photo: Green Apple Studio / Getty

During his tenure at the Oval Office in the White House, Barack Obama described himself as a “night owl” and he often stays up late. His predecessor, George W. Bush, usually went to bed at 10 o’clock and started working before 7 am.

Recent research shows that “early birds” face less health risks than “night owls”.

Last year, a study found that those who consider themselves “night owls”, that is, those who like to stay up late and get up late, have a higher mental illness, diabetes, neurological disease, bowel disease and even death than those who get up earlier People face greater risks. And more research has shown that night owls are at greater risk for heart disease.

“If people always stick to a schedule that is not suitable for their physical habits, this may cause health problems.” — Katharina Wulff

A study published last week in the BMJ medical journal found that for women, “early risers” have a lower risk of breast cancer. A British research team analysed genetic data, sleep questionnaires and reports of breast cancer incidence collected from thousands of women. Using multiple analytical techniques, they found “consistent evidence” that women who wake up early and sleep early are better than women who stay up late at nightSexually induced breast cancer is less likely.

The authors of the study acknowledge the limitations of their study-first and foremost, the sleep data of the women in the study are self-reported, so they cannot be verified and are more error-prone. But their research findings are not the first to link sleep preferences to health.

For some time, researchers have learned that humans have “biological clock genes” that are present in every cell of the body, and these genes regularly or inactive throughout the day. These circadian genes work in conjunction with environmental factors (such as exposure to sunlight during the day) to help set the circadian rhythm or schedule inside the body, thereby regulating human appetite, hormone levels, body temperature, energy, sleep time, and more.

As a natural Time biologist at Umeå University, Sweden Katharina Wulff, a senior lecturer in molecular and molecular biology, said: “The reason for this mechanism is that our planet is governed by the solar system, which creates a regular environment over millions of years. Here, organisms have developed these biological clocks to adapt to the rhythm of the environment. “

But Woolf said that the clock inside the human body does not exactly coincide with the 24-hour external clock set by the solar system. But this is by design. She explained: “This gives us the flexibility to adapt or adjust to different environments, such as seasonal variations in daylight time.”

Most people’s circadian clocks coincide with the outside world’s 24-hour environmental clock. People’s time may be slightly ahead or behind, so it is not obvious that they choose to get up early or late. But for some people (woolf estimates 10% of the population), the internal and external biological clocks are quite different. This difference, she said, has created extreme preferences for “early morning” or “night”. The underlying genetic variation of extreme preference for “night owls” seems to be associated with greater health risks.

As a natural Why? One possibility is that the circadian genes related to the status of night owls will also increase a person’s appearance of various health The risk of the problem. But another possibility is that work, school, or social needs force night owls to wake up early, resulting in a disconnect. When a night owl’s body wants to sleep, and life forces them to get up, or a night owl does not want to sleep, When life forces them to sleep early, it may lead to their lack of sleep, unhealthy hormonal conversion, metabolic problems or other biological changes that may cause cancer or depression, thereby disrupting their natural internal rhythms. < / p>

“If people always stick to a schedule that doesn’t fit their physical habits, this can cause health problems,” Woolf said. “Muscles, microbiota, diet and heart, all of these are affected. Woolf said, but all these problems apply only to a very small number of night owls, who are extreme types of night owls. If you are like most people In other words, you tend to get up from 5am to 9am and go to bed from 10pm to 1am, then you may have nothing to worry about.

Woolf said, “For extreme night owls, the conclusions of these studies are not proof that they need to go to bed early. On the contrary, if they can notice the natural tendency of their body and sleep for a while, they will Life is better. Just as shift workers who are forced to sleep during the day and work at night are at higher risk of cancer and other health problems, extreme “night owls” who are forced to get up early may also experience the same problem. If they have a way Adjust your work to your sleep-wake preferences, then they may be healthier.

Translator: Jane

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