什么是“社會時差”?它會讓你生病嗎?

什么是“社會時差”?它會讓你生病嗎?

In a perfect world, I would go to sleep at night when tired and wake up after about eight hours of refreshing sleep at a time dictated by my internal body clock. But this rarely happens. Between my older daughter's swim team practices that begin before dawn and my younger daughter's gymnastics practices that run well past my ideal bedtime, I am often torn (like many parents) between late nights and early mornings.

在一個完美的世界里，當(dāng)我晚上累了的時候，我就會去睡覺，然后在8個小時的清醒睡眠后醒來，這個時間是由我體內(nèi)的生物鐘決定的。但這種情況很少發(fā)生。我大女兒的游泳隊訓(xùn)練在黎明前開始，小女兒的體操訓(xùn)練遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過了我理想的就寢時間。我經(jīng)常(像許多父母一樣)在深夜和清晨之間左右為難。

Social jet lag makes you more than just tired. It can make you more susceptible to obesity, Alzheimer's disease and even cancer. (Photo: Akos Nagy/Shutterstock)

If we happen to get one day on the weekend that neither of them has practice or a meet, our alarm clocks are turned off and we all blissfully sleep in as long as we want. But research shows that by catching up on sleep on the weekends, I may actually be inducing a form of "social jet lag" that leaves me susceptible to a slew of chronic illnesses.

如果我們碰巧在周末有一天，他們倆都沒有練習(xí)，也沒有見面，我們的鬧鐘就會被關(guān)掉，我們高興地睡多久就睡多久。但研究表明，周末補(bǔ)覺實際上可能會引發(fā)一種“社交時差”，讓我容易患上一系列慢性疾病。

Till Roenneberg, a chronobiologist at the Institute of Medical Psychology at Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, Germany, coined the term social jet lag in 2006 to describe the effect that drastic changes in sleep patterns can have on the body. Roenneberg noticed many adults tend to sleep in on weekends to compensate for poor sleep during the week or to accommodate late nights of socializing over the weekend.

德國慕尼黑路德維希-馬克西米利安大學(xué)(ludwigi - maximilian University)醫(yī)學(xué)心理學(xué)研究所(Institute of Medical Psychology)的時間生物學(xué)家蒂爾·倫內(nèi)伯格(Till Roenneberg)在2006年創(chuàng)造了“社會時差”(social jet lag)一詞，用來描述睡眠模式的劇烈變化對身體的影響。倫內(nèi)伯格注意到，許多成年人往往會在周末睡懶覺，以彌補(bǔ)工作日的睡眠不足，或適應(yīng)周末晚些時候的社交活動。

These adults think they're being healthy by catching up on sleep when they can, but Roenneberg found that changes in sleep patterns actually disturb body systems that rely on a circadian rhythm, such as temperature regulation, cell repair and digestion.

這些成年人認(rèn)為只要有時間補(bǔ)覺就很健康，但倫內(nèi)伯格發(fā)現(xiàn)，睡眠模式的改變實際上會擾亂依賴晝夜節(jié)律的身體系統(tǒng)，比如溫度調(diào)節(jié)、細(xì)胞修復(fù)和消化。

The science to back it up

科學(xué)證明了這一點

Teen girls are particularly susceptible to weight issues because of irregular sleep schedules on weekends versus weekdays. (Photo: PAKULA PIOTR/Shutterstock)

A study conducted by Duke University Medical Center analyzed the sleep patterns of almost 2,000 participants between the ages of 54 and 93 to determine if social jet lag would affect their health. Researchers found that those who slept irregular hours on the weekends were more likely to suffer from higher blood sugar levels, body mass index, blood pressure and more likely to suffer a stroke or heart attack.

杜克大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)中心(Duke University Medical Center)進(jìn)行的一項研究分析了近2000名年齡在54歲至93歲之間的參與者的睡眠模式，以確定社會時差是否會影響他們的健康。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，周末睡眠不規(guī)律的人更容易患高血糖、體重指數(shù)、血壓升高，更容易中風(fēng)或心臟病發(fā)作。

However, the study's authors note that their findings don't show causality. "We can't conclude that sleep irregularity results in health risks, or whether health conditions affect sleep. Perhaps all of these things are impacting each other," said Dr. Jessica Lunsford-Avery, assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences from the Duke University Medical Center, in the study.

然而，該研究的作者指出，他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)并沒有顯示出因果關(guān)系。“我們不能得出睡眠不規(guī)律會導(dǎo)致健康風(fēng)險的結(jié)論，也不能得出健康狀況是否會影響睡眠的結(jié)論。”或許所有這些因素都在相互影響，”杜克大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)中心(Duke University Medical Center)精神病學(xué)和行為科學(xué)助理教授杰西卡·倫斯福德-埃弗里(Jessica Lunsford-Avery)博士在研究中說。

These findings further expound on previous studies that irregular sleep patterns could be linked to obesity and other health issues.

這些發(fā)現(xiàn)進(jìn)一步闡明了之前的研究，即不規(guī)則的睡眠模式可能與肥胖和其他健康問題有關(guān)。

In an earlier study published in Current Biology, researchers found that social jet lag was directly associated with increased body mass index, a key marker in diagnosing obesity. Additional studies have found similar links between changes in sleep patterns and chronic health conditions. A study published in JAMA Neurology found that older adults who reported changes in sleep patterns also had increased accumulation of the beta-amyloid proteins which are known precursors of Alzheimer’s disease. Another study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that for every hour of social jet lag a person experiences, the likelihood of developing heart disease increases by 11%.

在《當(dāng)代生物學(xué)》(Current Biology)上發(fā)表的一項較早的研究中，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，社交時差與體重指數(shù)(bmi)的增加直接相關(guān)，而體重指數(shù)是診斷肥胖的一個關(guān)鍵指標(biāo)。其他研究也發(fā)現(xiàn)，睡眠模式的改變與慢性健康狀況之間存在類似的聯(lián)系。發(fā)表在《美國醫(yī)學(xué)會神經(jīng)病學(xué)》(JAMA Neurology)上的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，報告睡眠模式發(fā)生變化的老年人體內(nèi)β-淀粉樣蛋白的積累也有所增加。美國睡眠醫(yī)學(xué)會(American Academy of Sleep Medicine)的另一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，一個人每經(jīng)歷一個小時的社交時差，患心臟病的可能性就會增加11%。

So what can you do to reduce your health risks? In a perfect world, sleep would get more respect. School administrators, employers and we as individuals would align activities around sleep patterns rather than trying to squeeze sleep into the cracks of our lives.

那么你能做些什么來降低你的健康風(fēng)險呢?在一個完美的世界里，睡眠會得到更多的尊重。學(xué)校管理者、雇主和我們個人會根據(jù)睡眠模式來安排活動，而不是試圖把睡眠擠進(jìn)生活的縫隙。