Patricia Mong, from the University of Pittsburgh, called the disruption as social jet lag, which is an imbalance between a person’s biological rhythm and the socially-imposed sleep schedule, which he has to follow.
Advertisement
For this study, the team recruited 447 participants between the ages of 30 and 54 whose work schedule took them out of the house for at least 25 hours per week.
The researchers found that roughly 85 percent of the individuals slept longer on their rest days than on workdays, while the rest of the participants woke up earlier on their rest days than on workdays.
The participants were asked to wear a wristband that recorded their sleep and movement 24 hours a day for an entire week. “Other researchers have found that social jetlag relates to obesity and a few indicators of cardiovascular function”. Everyone looks forward to days free from work or other commitments, and catching up on lost sleep can be a real treat. However, researchers are now claiming that even small changes to the time you get up each day could damage your health.
Among the people with larger differences in their sleep schedules from workdays to free days tended to have worse cholesterol profiles, higher fasting insulin levels, higher BMI and were more resistant to insulin than people with more steady sleep schedules throughout the week.
Study authors explained that social jet lag, or the changes in sleep schedule that most people are exposed to on their days off, remained tied to a high risk of metabolic disorders and heart disease even after adjustments were made.
Irregular sleeping schedule may increase your risk of developing chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease rises, warns a new study. For instance, while your body may be prepared to go to sleep at midnight every night, your social schedule might require you to go to sleep much later after going out with friends – or even earlier, if you share a bed with a partner. They also completed a questionnaire detailing their diet and exercise habits.
“If future studies replicate what we found here, then we may need to consider as a society how modern work and social obligations are affecting our sleep and health”, said Wong. New research conducted at the University of Pittsburgh demonstrates, nevertheless, societal jetlag as basic as getting up late may also be bad for health.
“These can contribute to the development of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease”.
Advertisement
Wong and colleagues believe their findings could contribute to clinical interventions focused on circadian disturbances, add to the workplace education to help workers make informed decisions about managing their schedules, and encourage employers to make policies in order to manage these issues. The study findings were published November 18 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
