Health

The early bird gets the...stroke?

by mardoux | September 6, 2007 at 09:01 am | 1261 views | 5 comments | 0 recommendations

I grew up with the old adage, "Early to bed, early to rise; makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." Early to bed is still cool, but apparently early risers don't always get health, wealth and wisdom. According to a new Japanese study, people who get up early may be more likely to suffer cardiovascular problems. Thank Buddha for my rock n roll schedule--I now go by the equally sage advice of, "If it works for Keith Richards, it works for me."

The study, covering 3,017 healthy adults aged between 23 through 90, found that early risers had a greater risk of heart conditions including hypertension and of having strokes.

However, the study also noted that early risers were usually older.

I had an aunt who swore by the five hour night--her day ended around 11pm and began at 4am each day. She died relatively early (she was sixty-eight). Maybe this study holds some truth...or maybe it was all the cigarettes and booze she consumed. She'd probably side with the study, knowing her.

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jordan

at 09:11 on September 6th, 2007

From now on I'll show up for work judiciously late...

kpratt

at 12:24 on September 6th, 2007

And time for a quick review of causality....

They establish a correlation between getting up early and having a stroke. Are these people having a stroke because they're exposed to more sunlight, or are they waking up early because they are under a lot of stress and have enough hypertension to not be able to sleep a full night?

And please, before doing your statistical analysis, control for such things as age, gender, other known health risks. Variable isolation ftw.

Thats all not to say that I don't stay up till I'm done with whatever I'm doing, and sleep until I'm done sleeping.

hi_ajit

at 06:35 on September 7th, 2007

I guess lack of sleep increases your body stress which may be a factor causing hypertension & thereby reducing life expectancy...

early rising, doesnt reeeallly sound that convincing to me... I mean its the amount of hours that you sleep that matters...

being Indian, I have seen that lives in the countryside begin very early in the morning... and men & women from the countryside don't really die of hypertension as much as their counterparts living in cities..

Its your overall lifestyle inclusive your food, sleep, work, thought process, physical activity, etc. that really calculates the risk of being susceptible to hypertension

kerren

at 15:04 on September 7th, 2007

Ah-ha! I knew the "snooze" button was a good thing. Now I have scientific data that I am sleeping late for health reasons.

Amazonca

at 06:06 on July 3rd, 2008

To sleep enough and a lot- that's the key of a beautiful (especially for women), long and health life. signature: One thousand Americans stop smoking cheap cigarettes every day - by dying.