Sleep timing could directly impact chances of heart attack or stroke, study suggests

Adults who consider themselves "night owls" tend to score lower in cardiovascular health assessments and face a higher risk of heart attack or stroke.

That’s according to a new study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, which examined how a person’s chronotype — their natural tendency to be active in the morning or evening — is linked to overall heart health.

The researchers looked at 14 years of UK Biobank data for around 300,000 adults averaging 57 years old, according to a press release for the study.

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Around 8% of the participants described themselves as "definitely evening people," which means they stayed up very late. Another 24% said they were "definitely morning people," as they tended to wake up earlier and go to bed earlier.

The largest "intermediate" group, which included 67% of participants, said they were unsure or in neither group.

Each person’s heart health was determined using the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 score.

"Life’s Essential 8 is a comprehensive assessment that includes activity levels, diet, blood pressure, cholesterol, use of nicotine, sleep patterns, weight management and blood sugar," shared Dr. Bradley Serwer, an interventional cardiologist and chief medical officer at VitalSolution, an Ingenovis Health company.

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The researchers also looked at incidence of heart attack or stroke over the follow-up period.

They determined that people who were more active in the evening ("night owls") had a 79% higher risk of poor cardiovascular health compared to the intermediate group, and a 16% higher risk of heart attack or stroke, the release stated.

People who identified as being more active in the morning had slightly better heart health scores. The link was more pronounced in women than men.

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"'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," said 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, both in Boston, in the release.

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"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."

Serwer, who was not involved in the study, noted that lifestyle habits played a significant role in these findings.

"Cardiovascular disease has multiple contributing causes," the Maryland-based cardiologist told Fox News Digital. "Sleep is just one variable — and the importance of high-quality, restorative sleep should not be undervalued."

The findings could help doctors tailor lifestyle and medical interventions to help prevent cardiovascular events, the researchers noted.

The study did have some limitations, chiefly that it does not prove that staying up late causes heart problems, but only establishes an association.

Also, the study relied on people reporting their own schedules, habits and health, which could be skewed.

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Finally, the people included in the UK Biobank are primarily White and tend to have better health than the general population, the researchers noted, which means the results may not be widely generalized.

Serwer added, "While quality sleep is important, further studies are required to show exactly what sort of impact sleep alone has on cardiovascular health."