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ben_uk
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"Those that live at odds with their body cloc
« on: Mar 30th, 2006, 10:55am » |
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"Those that live at odds with their body clocks are most likely to become smokers,"
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19025453.500.html
From NewScientist issue 2545 of New Scientist magazine, 30 March 2006, page 17
By Helen Phillips
PEOPLE who take up smoking may do so because they are getting up too early. That's just one symptom of a permanently misaligned body clock, a condition dubbed "social jetlag" that could affect more than half of us.
Till Roenneberg at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and his colleagues used questionnaires to assess the "chronotype" of more than 500 volunteers - a measure of how much of a night owl or early bird you are. As with previous large studies, they found that the average person prefers to sleep between 12.30 am and 8.30 am, although chronotypes vary so widely that the latest owls are still awake when the earliest larks are rising.
Roenneberg says that for many people this natural rhythm, which is largely genetically determined, doesn't fit comfortably with their work routines. Although exposure to daylight can adjust people to even the most unsuitable routines for their chronotype, most office workers get nowhere near enough light to do this. Roenneberg believes that more than half the population are in effect socially jet-lagged all the time, because their body clock is permanently out of synch with their working hours (Chronobiology International, vol 23, p 497).
His team also studied stimulant use among the same volunteers and found that those suffering from social jet lag were much more likely to smoke. Only around 10 per cent of people living within an hour of their natural body clock were smokers, but this rose linearly to around 70 per cent of people with 7 hours' social jet lag or more, as measured by the difference between the mid-point of their sleep time on work days and free days. "Those that get up too early and live at odds with their body clocks are most likely to become smokers," says Roenneberg.
Jim Horne, a sleep expert from Loughborough University, UK, agrees that the correlations are significant, but says they "may well be caused by another factor" such as differences in social habits or social drinking in night owls. However, Roenneberg points to the fact that people with the worst social jet lag do not smoke more heavily, as might be expected if tobacco was keeping them awake, for example. They are just more likely to start smoking in the first place. He now plans bigger studies to explore these links.
Roenneberg believes his finding could help explain why most people who take up smoking begin as teenagers. Previous studies have shown that teenagers' chronotypes creep later until early adulthood before receding again, leaving them among the most likely to live beyond their chronotype's means.
However, there may be a solution. Roenneberg suggests making school and work schedules flexible, as well as using bright light in the mornings to help the body adapt to unnatural routines. While such changes might be difficult, they could well save lives, as social jet lag may account for a large chunk of the smoking population, he says.
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Bob P
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Shut up Bob!
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Re: "Those that live at odds with their body
« Reply #1 on: Mar 30th, 2006, 11:34am » |
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Been saying for years that smoking doesn't cause CH but what causes CH also causes us to smoke, drink, have addictive personalities.
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Mrs. Barlow, I never, and I repeat never, ever pissed in your steam iron.
"SHUT UP HUB!"
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BobG
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TRe: "Those that live at odds with their body
« Reply #2 on: Mar 30th, 2006, 11:46am » |
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I think Till Roenneberg and his colleagues are friggin' nuts. Just another crackpot theory to get published and make a buck. Or just another anti-smoking zealot that hates his mother.
'chronotype'? Chronomyasstype! What kind of a made-up word is that?
Till (what kind a person would name their kid Till?) has problems. Maybe he fell off his meds.
I hate to agree with Bob P
but he's right...
this time.
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Stay stressed. Never relax. Never sleep. Ever.
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