Breast cancer: early risers are less likely to get sick

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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Women who are in top form in the morning are less likely to develop breast cancer than late-active women. The genetic makeup could play a central role in this.

Whether a person is a nocturnal "owl type" or one of the early awakening "larks" is not a question of character, but is primarily determined by their genes. Some time ago, scientists found out which variants of the genome play a role in this. On this basis, researchers led by Rebecca Richmond from the National Cancer Research Institute evaluated the data from more than 400,000 women.

Advantage for "larks"

In doing so, they focused on a link between activity type and breast cancer. Accordingly, early risers, so-called “larks”, have an advantage: Compared to “owls”, they have a 40 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer.

Even those who slumber more than the recommended seven hours per night are apparently more at risk: with every additional hour of sleep, the risk of malignant breast tumors increases by 20 percent.

In this study, the researchers were unable to find a connection between sleep disorders and breast cancer. However, the results complement previous studies that demonstrate an increased risk of illness in shift workers - including cancer.

Focus on genetic data

For their investigation, the researchers relied on two large British study programs for which the genetic profile of the participants had been examined. The ability to concentrate on genetic factors offered a decisive advantage: unlike mere lifestyle surveys, there is no uncertainty due to environmental influences. Also, whether a dormant cancer disease could influence the daily rhythm cannot play a role here.

Life against the internal clock?

In further studies, the researchers want to clarify exactly how activity type and brood cancer interact. It is still unclear whether the genetically determined daily rhythm and associated environmental factors such as light or the corresponding genes directly influence the risk of cancer.

It would also be conceivable that owls in the living environment that is geared towards morning people, on the other hand, have to constantly live their internal clock and are therefore chronically under physiological stress. "Just changing your habits may not affect your cancer risk," says Richmond. Anyone who is actually an owl and forces themselves to get up early may not benefit, but could even damage their health.

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