Early Bird? Thriving on Early-to-Bed, Early-to-Rise Routine May Be a Genetic Trait

A quirk of the body clock that lures some people to sleep at 8 p.m., enabling them to greet the new day as early as 4 a.m., may be significantly more common than previously believed. So-called advanced sleep phase – previously believed to be very rare – may affect at least one in 300 adults, according to a study led by UC San Francisco and publishing in the journal SLEEP . Advanced sleep phase means that the body’s clock, or circadian rhythm, operates on a schedule hours earlier than most people’s, with a premature release of the sleep hormone melatonin and shift in body temperature. The condition is distinct from the early rising that develops with normal aging, as well as the waking in the wee hours experienced by people with depression. “While most people struggle with getting out of bed at 4 or 5 a.m., people with advanced sleep phase wake up naturally at this time, rested and ready to take on the day,” said the study’s senior author, Louis Ptacek, MD, professor of neurology at the UCSF School of Medicine. “These extreme early birds tend to function well in the daytime but may have trouble staying awake for social commitments in the evening.” Advanced Sleepers ‘Up and at ‘Em’ on Weekends Too Additionally, “advanced sleepers” rouse more easily than others, he said, and are satisfied with an average of an extra five-to-10 minutes of sleep on non-work days, versus the 30-to-38 minutes’ more sleep of their non-advanced sleeper family members. https://www.technologynetworks.com/genomics/news/early-bird-thriving-on-early-to-bed-early-to-rise-routine-may-be-a-genetic-trait-322607?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=75485345&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_GJByxcH8lX9OcDt3yBXdJEWt_8dVLAln0xeUijgOyWoltpm7P-KvGdpcold0Dmk5X71ittBo7A_S07gfISqNnl1kMjQ&_hsmi=75485345