‘DON’T PANIC IF YOU’RE A NIGHT OWL!’
It’s been reported that being up with the lark lowers your breast cancer risk, but Dr C says sleepyheads needn’t worry
The way this study T was reported was unnecessarily scary. When you dig a little deeper, the increase is small; one fewer person per 100 will develop breast cancer if they’re a morning person, rather than a night owl, so if you hate mornings, don’t worry.
DON’T TRY TO CHANGE
Our body clock determines when we get sleepy and wake up, among other things, and it’s pretty fixed. This research included more than 400,000 women, so we can’t ignore it, but it isn’t a reason for night owls to force themselves out of their natural sleep cycle, as that could impact hormones, insulin control and hunger. In fact, researchers thought the increased risk could be caused precisely by people forcing themselves up early for work.
BE AWARE OF SHIFTS
There’s evidence that shift work is linked to poorer health, because constantly forcing your body out of its natural rhythm puts you into a permanent state of jetlag. People find it hard to recognise if they’re hungry or tired, and shift workers tend to eat stodgier food so they can become overweight, but a large study that looked at breast cancer specifically found no link between shift work and raised breast cancer risk.
GET LOTS OF LIGHT
One way to make it easier to get up in the morning is to be exposed to as much sunlight as possible during the day, because that makes your body produce sleep hormones sooner. Open the curtains as soon as you wake up, or use a lamp that wakes you up gradually with light rather than a buzzing alarm. If you often wake up groggy, you need to go to bed earlier, or if you drink alcohol regularly, cut back, because even one drink prevents you from going into a deep, restorative sleep. Rather than worrying about being a night owl, focus on things you can do to limit your breast cancer risk, like knowing your family history, because if close relatives have suffered you have a raised risk. Staying at a healthy weight is important, particularly as you go through menopause, and being breast aware is crucial. There are lots of descriptions of how to check breasts online, but they can be overly complicated. Just check for something that wasn’t there last time you felt or looked – but you’ll only be able to do that if you know what they feel like normally. So check monthly, several days after your period, whether you’re up with the lark or a night owl.