People with anorexia are ‘more likely to wake up early’

PEOPLE with anorexia are more likely to wake up early, a study suggests.

Some diseases and conditions are linked to circadian rhythm, with the body clock connected to either the morning or evening.

And while depression, binge eating and schizophrenia are associated with staying up later, a study shows people suffering from anorexia are more prone to being morning people.

It is the first time a link has been found between mornings and anorexia nervosa, though previous studies found connections to circadian rhythm.

Data show that people with the eating disorder often wake early and also experience insomnia.

Genetic data from more than 70,000 people looked for links between chronotype and anorexia and found a link between the two.

However, the statistical analysis was unable to determine which way the association goes, and whether it was the morning tendency or anorexia that caused the other.

The scientists called for more powerful and diverse studies to be run in order to shed more light on the topic.

Senior author Hassan Dashti, from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), USA, an assistant professor of anaesthesia at Harvard Medical School, said: “Our findings implicate anorexia nervosa as a morning disorder in contrast to most other evening-based psychiatric diseases and support the association between anorexia nervosa and insomnia as seen in earlier studies.”

Researchers looked at genes associated with anorexia, the body’s internal clock, and several sleep traits including insomnia. They found a two-way association between genes associated with anorexia and genes associated with morning chronotype, waking early and going to bed early.

The findings suggest that being an early riser could increase the risk for having anorexia, and having anorexia could lead to an earlier wake time.

Anorexia is an eating disorder and mental health condition characterised by individuals trying to maintain as low a body weight as possible.

The study, led by MGH, in collaboration with University College London and the University of the Republic in Uruguay, also revealed a link between anorexia and insomnia risk. The study was published in