Why «larks» live longer than «owls»

Scientists from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Medicine have found that owls have a higher mortality rate than larks. An article on this topic was published in the journal Chronobiology International. The premature departure of «owls», as it turned out, is associated not so much with the peculiarities of falling asleep, but with their behavior «through life» in general.

Each person's circadian rhythms are individual. But there are two main chronotypes: so «owls» like to stay up late at work, and get up, accordingly, more often far from early in the morning, but «larks» go to bed early and get up much earlier than «owls».

The expert was started in 1981, when surveys were conducted and medical data collected from 23,000 twins. After analyzing the data, it was found that 43 percent of the subjects consider themselves «owls».

After 37 years, a detailed survey on various aspects of life was repeated. The data obtained 5 years ago were compared with the first surveys. As it turned out, about 8,700 people died over the years. At the same time, the mortality among the «owls» was higher than among the «larks» by 21%.

After a detailed examination of all factors, it was noted that this difference is not directly related to the characteristics of sleep, but indirectly, through lifestyle, and is most often associated with smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. What provokes «owls» to such excesses, perhaps the very late going to bed. And often such a strong effect of alcohol and smoking is exacerbated by chronic lack of sleep. How to extend life by 28 years, read here