Those who sleep like an owl, i.e. people who prefer to go to sleep late and who are more active at night, have a worse response to stress and a greater predisposition to risky behaviors, such as smoking and alcohol. This is indicated by the research by the University of Pisa published in the journal Chronobiology International and whose first author is Francy Cruz Sanabria, conducted on a sample of 120 healthy adults.
“Analysing the behaviors and habits related to sleep it has emerged in recent years that we are not all the same”, observed the coordinator of the study, Ugo Faraguna, of the University of Pisa. “There is, in fact, about 15% of the population – he added – that we can define as owls, i.e. they are more active at night, are later in the evening and have difficulty in the morning, and 15% of the population that all The opposite tends to wake up very early and make the most of the early hours of the day, the so-called larks”. These are two classic examples of chronotype, i.e. a sort of profiling of some important characteristics that are easily identifiable by simply monitoring their sleep habits. Analyzing a sample of 120 healthy people, the study has now identified that in owls there is a lower ability to respond to traumatic or stressful events, such as mourning or family separations, with responses that sometimes lead to risky behaviors, such as smoking or alcohol.
“The quality of sleep – added Faraguna – is now considered one of the main risk factors for the development of neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia and Parkinson’s, yet there is still little attention to it”. Help can come from modern wearable technologies, which have greatly simplified the possibility of easily monitoring these parameters, an example are the bracelets used in the study and designed by the startup Sleepacta of the University of Pisa which will be among the guests of Converging Skills in June. “One of the hopes – concluded Faraguna – is that awareness will also increase while sleeping, as has happened with blood pressure monitoring to reduce circulatory dangers”.
Source: Ansa
I am a journalist with over 6 years of experience working in the news industry. I currently work as an author for Global Happenings, and my coverage focuses on Technology news. I have written for various publications, including Reuters, The New York Times and The Guardian.
