- Content: 
By India McCarty
Did you know the time you go to bed can affect your chances of a heart attack or stroke?
“Middle-aged and older adults who were more active in the evenings had poorer cardiovascular health compared to their peers who were more active during the day,” a press release from the American Heart Association announced.
It cited research from a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, which looked at health data for more than 300,000 adults.
“‘Evening people’ or night owls had a 79% higher prevalence of having an overall poor cardiovascular health score,” the study reported, adding, “Night owls had a 16% higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke over a median of about 14 years follow-up, compared to people within the intermediate category.”
Related: Does Screen Time Before Bed Really Affect Sleep Health?
Lead study author Sina Kianersi, Ph.D., a research fellow in the division of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, explained the study’s findings.
“’Evening people’ often experience circadian misalignment, meaning their internal body clock may not match the natural day-to-night light cycle or their typical daily schedules,” she said. “Evening people may be more likely to have behaviors that can affect cardiovascular health, such as poorer diet quality, smoking, and inadequate or irregular sleep.”
Dr. Bradley Serwer, an interventional cardiologist and chief medical officer at VitalSolution, an Ingenovis Health company, spoke to Fox News about the study, saying that “cardiovascular disease has multiple contributing causes.”
“Sleep is just one variable — and the importance of high-quality, restorative sleep should not be undervalued,” he explained. “While quality sleep is important, further studies are required to show exactly what sort of impact sleep alone has on cardiovascular health.”
Kristen Knutson, associate professor of neurology and preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and fellow at the American Heart Association, gave her own thoughts on the study’s findings, telling ABC News that “it isn’t being a night owl that’s a problem.”
“I think being a night owl who’s trying to live in a morning lark’s world is a conflict between one’s internal clock and their social clock,” she added.
Knutson advised “sleep regularity,” which means going to bed at the time every day, which can lead to better timing for other behaviors like “light exposure, meals, exercise activity.”
While more research is required to make any definitive conclusions, it looks like researchers are in agreement that an early bedtime will benefit your health in the long run.
Read Next: Trying to Get a Good Night’s Sleep? Here’s What Experts Recommend
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +1