Morning people have lower breast cancer risk
There is one more reason for morning people to feel smug about, a new study has found that they have a lower risk of breast cancer! If you don’t already know what type of a person you are, DNA raw data can now be used to find out if you are morning person, a night owl, your entrepreneurship potential and even how empathetic you are likely to be.
Early rising and breast cancer risk
A University of Bristol study has shown that people who are early risers are more likely to have lower risk of breast cancer, after sieving through the data of hundreds of study participants. The study is of significance to women, their sleep patterns and their risk of developing breast cancer.
Everybody has a natural ‘body clock’ or a circadian rhythm, which is associated with our sleep patterns, our mood and energy levels. Morning people are those who get up early and feel more energized during the morning hours while night owls tend to stay awake till late into the night and get up late.
Why are some people larks and others night owls?
People with certain genetic variants are associated with being early risers and are found to have better focus and attention during the morning hours. But, how and why did the morningness and night owl tendencies originate in humans?
The Evolutionary Connect
Variations in genes are associated with selection pressures caused by certain environmental factors, and for these personality traits, it was caused by the sentinel adaptation. During prehistoric times, it was important for certain members of a tribe to stay awake and keep a watch for danger as the rest of the tribe slept, this helped in safeguarding the tribe from predators.
Anthropologists studied sleep patterns among the Hadza people of Tanzania who continue to live like hunter-gatherers. These people were provided with specific fitbits that monitored their sleep patterns. It was found that about 40% of the group stayed awake at any given time and the entire group slept at the same time for only 18 minutes during the 200 hours study period!
40 to 70% variation in sleep patterns is found to be genetic, so an understanding of the genetic variants carried will help in identifying the likely personality trait.
Breast cancer risk among early risers.
The University of Bristol study has shown that there is a 40 to 48% reduced risk of breast cancer among women who are morning people.
Will sleeping for longer hours help lower breast cancer risk?
If you thought that you could sleep out your breast cancer risk, well think again. The same study has shown that sleeping for longer periods, longer than required, could increase the risk for breast cancer by 20% for every excess hour.
Sleep duration also varies between individuals, with genetics playing a role. To find out more sleep duration needs and if you are a morning person or night owl, buy Xcode’s personality trait report here.
