See our ethics statement. We all have a preferred time for sleeping — a body clock. Our preferences for when to sleep are called chronotypes. And, increasingly, researchers have been investigating what happens to people whose body clocks are out of sync with the rest of society. It may even put you at higher risk of early death. This past week, researchers at Northwestern and the University of Surrey published a huge study in the journal Chronobiology International of more than , adults in the UK, who had been tracked for an average of 6.
It found a correlation: Those who reported having a later chronotype people who are night owls had a 10 percent increased likelihood of dying compared to people who had an earlier chronotype.
And this was true for people of all ages in the study, and for both men and women. Of the ,plus subjects in this study, just a fraction — 10,, or about 2 percent — died within the study period. Having a very late chronotype is like living in a constant state of jet lag, which takes a toll on the body. Understanding the science of chronobiology may help us live healthier lives.
Or, at the very least, it helps us recognize that some people just like to sleep later than others. Most people — around 50 percent — fall right in the middle of the chronotype bell curve. Average sleep is between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am, give or take an hour. A mid-sleep of 0 is midnight, a mid-sleep of is 4 am, and so on. Men tend to vary more on chronotype than women. But there are men and women at the extremes on either end. Only around 0. People with this condition often have trouble falling asleep before 3 am or even later.
The condition is much more common among teens, whose clocks gradually shift earlier as they age. Some adults are on the other end of the spectrum. These people prefer to go to sleep around 8 pm. In an additional study from , performed with a wider number of participants, Kroese and team argued that lack of self-regulation—associated with personality traits such as being impulsive or easily distracted—is a possible cause of sleep procrastination.
Getting adequate sleep requires more than just setting a bedtime especially considering that self-regulation comes with thoughts and feelings, and not just behaviors. While this may seem like a simple solution for those of us who find ourselves scrolling late into the night, Breus acknowledges that there is an added element of FOMO, due in part to the pandemic, making the Power-Down Hour seem a bit more daunting.
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Sleep Med Clin. Men and women who don't get enough quality sleep experience a loss of libido reduced sex drive and less of an interest in sex, research suggests. Men who suffer from sleep apnoea — a disorder in which breathing difficulties lead to interrupted sleep — also tend to have lower testosterone levels, which can lower libido.
Long-standing sleep deprivation seems to be associated with increased heart rate, an increase in blood pressure and higher levels of certain chemicals linked with inflammation, which may put extra strain on your heart. Difficulty conceiving a baby has been claimed as one of the effects of sleep deprivation, in both men and women.
Apparently, regular sleep disruptions can cause infertility by reducing the secretion of reproductive hormones. If you don't get enough sleep, there's only one way to compensate — getting more sleep. It won't happen with a single early night.
If you've had months of restricted sleep, you'll have built up a significant sleep debt, so expect recovery to take several weeks. Starting on a weekend, try to add on an extra hour or 2 of sleep a night. The way to do this is to go to bed when you're tired, and allow your body to wake you in the morning no alarm clocks allowed! You might sleep up to 10 hours a night at first. After a while, the amount of time you sleep will gradually decrease to a normal level.
Don't rely on caffeine or energy drinks as a short-term pick-me-up. They may boost your energy and concentration in the short term, but can disrupt your sleep patterns even further in the long term.
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