WASHINGTON (AP) – Staying up late can have a negative effect on your heart.

It may sound surprising, but large-scale studies have found that people are more active late at night, when most of the population has finished work. or already asleep – Your overall heart health is worse than the average person.

“It’s not that night owls are doomed,” said Sheena Kianasi, a researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School who led the study.

“The problem is a mismatch between your body clock and your body clock. typical day schedule ” This makes it difficult to maintain heart-healthy behaviors.

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And that’s fixable, Kianasi added. He describes himself as “kind of a night owl” and says he feels his “analytical thinking” increases around 7 or 8 p.m.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.

The American Heart Association has List of 8 key elements Everyone should pay attention to improving heart health. become more physically active;Avoid tobacco. Get enough sleep and eat a healthy diet. and control blood pressurecholesterol, blood sugar levels, and weight.

Where does being a night owl come into play?

It has to do with your body’s circadian rhythm, or master body clock. Following a roughly 24-hour schedule, it not only regulates when we get sleepy and when we wake up, it also keeps our organ systems in sync and influences things like heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormones, and metabolism.

Circadian rhythms differ slightly from person to person. Previous research has suggested that night owls may have more health problems than those with regular bedtimes, as well as risk factors such as higher rates of smoking and less physical activity, Kianasi said.

To find out more, Kianasi’s team tracked more than 300,000 middle-aged and elderly people in the UK Biobank. Biobank is a huge health database containing information about people’s sleep and wakefulness preferences.

About 8 percent of those people classify themselves as night owls, meaning they are more physically and mentally active in the late afternoon or early evening, and well past most people’s bedtime.

About a quarter were early risers who were most productive during the day, as were early bedtimes. The rest were average, somewhere in the middle.

Researchers found that over 14 years, night owls had a 16 percent higher risk of developing a first heart attack or stroke compared to the average population.

Researchers say night owls, especially women, have worse overall cardiovascular health as they meet the Heart Association’s eight important factors. reported on Wednesday American Heart Association Journal.

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Unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, lack of sleep, and poor diet appear to be the main causes.

“This comes down to the problem of night owls trying to live in the world of morning owls. They’re waking up early and starting work, which may not be in sync with their body rhythms,” said Kristen Knutson of Northwestern University, who led the Heart Association’s recent guidance on circadian rhythms but was not involved in the new study.

It affects more than just sleep.

For example, your metabolism fluctuates throughout the day as your body produces insulin to turn food into energy. That means it may be difficult for night owls to eat a high-calorie breakfast early in the day, when it would normally still be biologically night, Knutson says. Also, if you’re out late at night, it can be difficult to find healthy food options.

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When it comes to sleep, sticking to regular bedtimes and wake-up times may also be helpful, she and Kianasi said, even if you can’t achieve the ideal of at least seven hours.

The study couldn’t examine what night owls do when the rest of the world is asleep. But Kianasi said one of the best steps anyone can take to protect their heart health, even if they’re a night owl, is to stop smoking.

“Focus on the basics, not perfection,” he said repeatedly, and this is useful advice for anyone.