What happens if you always sleep late

These people prefer to go to sleep around 8 pm. You can find out chronotype by taking the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire find an online version of it here. The researchers in the recent UK used a simplified, one-question version of this test.

Furthermore, the research finds our internal clocks are influenced by genes and are incredibly difficult to change. As we get older, our clocks nudge us to wake up earlier and earlier. People in all chronotypes need around seven or more hours of sleep per night. They just prefer to do it at different times.

The body is an orchestra of organs, each providing an essential function. In this metaphor, the circadian rhythm is the conductor.

It really seems to be a fundamental property of life. Our bodies run this tight schedule to try to keep up with our actions.

Since we usually eat a meal after waking up, we produce the most insulin in the morning. For people who are either more morning-oriented or evening-oriented, everything the circadian system controls is delayed and out of sync.

So every day, our body clocks need to wind backward by just a little bit to stay on schedule. For the most part, the sun takes care of this. Every single cell of the body has clock genes, bits of DNA that flip on and off throughout the day. Clock genes regulate the expression of between 5 and 20 percent of all the other genes in the cell.

Scientists have found that small variations in these genes lead to earlier or later rhythms in animals , and are beginning to identify the genes that cause the same effects in humans. A longer clock means the suprachiasmatic nucleus has to work harder to make an adjustment.

When it fails to readjust, sleep times drift later and later into the evening. In modern times, light from our computers and televisions pushes some evening-type people to stay awake longer.

And, of course, the true answer may be some combination of all three of those reasons — and perhaps some yet to be discovered. The study did find that students were better off if they slept during "nighttime" hours, but it defined those hours as 10 pm to 10 am. As Charles Czeisler, M. So if you go to bed at 2 and get up at 9, that's fine.

You just have to consistently do the same thing. The researchers expected to find that the irregular sleepers who stayed up till all hours were sleeping fewer hours than their regular-sleeping counterparts. But no--both groups were sleeping about the same number of hours in total because the irregular sleepers were napping during the day. After the 3-week intervention, the volunteers demonstrated improvements in both cognitive performance, with an increase in reaction time, and physical shape, with improved grip strength, in the morning.

Moreover, participants reported a decrease in feelings of depression and stress , as well as in daytime sleepiness. For now, the researchers argue that these easy adjustments can allow people whose natural body clock does not match the regular 9 to 5 work schedule to boost both their performance and their well-being.

Insufficient levels of sleep and circadian misalignment can disrupt many bodily processes, putting us at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer , and diabetes.

During deep sleep, the body restores various functions, including energy and memory. There are several stages of sleep, and they are all important…. Waking up in the middle of the night is common. However, if it occurs often, it may signal the presence of an underlying condition. Share on Pinterest. Your heart suffers. Your cancer risk increases. You forget stuff. Your libido diminishes. You gain weight. Your risk of diabetes increases. Your skin suffers.

More than beauty rest. Medically reviewed by Shuvani Sanyal, M. Read this next. The Case for Sleeping with Socks On. Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.

Medically reviewed by William Morrison, M. The Effects of Diabetes on Your Body.