Does it make a difference whether you go to bed earlier or later in the evening? Scientists have investigated this and demonstrated both effects on health and differences between the sexes.
Unfortunately, evening people are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases. However, this is often related to habits that can be changed, according to a report in the Journal of the American Heart Association. published study. The connection is particularly pronounced for women.
For their study, a team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, evaluated data from more than 300,000 healthy adults between the ages of 39 and 74 who were registered in the UK Biobank – a long-term study from Great Britain that regularly collects various health data from a large sample. A score was calculated for cardiovascular health that takes into account diet, exercise, sleep habits and nicotine consumption as well as cholesterol levels, blood sugar and weight.
Eight percent of the subjects included described themselves as “definite evening people” with a late go-to-bed time like 2 a.m. and a late peak in their activity during the day. “Definite morning people” made up 24 percent of the sample, with the rest falling in between and referred to as the medium chronotype group. Chronotype is the technical term for the internal clock or the preferred sleep-wake rhythm.
The research team found that among evening people, the proportion of those with generally poor cardiovascular health was 79 percent higher than in the middle group. In addition, over an observation period of around 14 years, evening people had a 16 percent higher risk of a heart attack or stroke than people with a medium chronotype. The association between late chronotype and poor cardiovascular health was even stronger in women than in men.
Evening people often have unhealthy habits
However, it is not the chronotype itself that seems to be the decisive factor for the negative health effect, but rather the habits that often go hand in hand with the late rhythm. It is more common in “evening people” that their internal clock “may not correspond to the natural day-night light cycle or their typical daily routine,” explains study author Sina Kianersi.
“Evening people may be more prone to behaviors that can impact cardiovascular health, such as poorer diets, smoking, and inadequate or irregular sleep.” The group sees this as good news for night owls, as such habits can be changed. Some therapies and treatment approaches could also be better tailored to the respective person with this knowledge.
dpa/rc
date:2026-02-07 16:59:00