Workdays starting at 9 a.m. would amount to “torture” for employees, according to sleep expert Dr. Paul Kelley. His research suggests that the circadian rhythm (which regulates the alternation between wakefulness and sleep) of an adult is not in harmony with the traditional hours of the working day (9am-5pm). They would only be suitable after the age of 55, when people need less sleep.
The circadian rhythm lasts 24 hours and regulates sleep rhythms. It is determined by exposure to light of the body through the eyes. Dr. Paul Kelley notes that the body cannot “learn” to wake up at a particular time because its biological clock is tuned to sunlight. We are not aware of this sensitivity to the sun because the light is detected by the hypothalamus and not by sight.
According to Dr. Paul Kelley, a professor in the Department of Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience at the University of Oxford (UK) said in his report that working days and school days should start later to be in harmony with our biological clock. Companies that impose days that are too early in the morning risk making their employees less efficient and more exposed to health problems, such as anxiety, weight gain, high blood pressure and mental health issues. So many disorders already linked to lack of sleep that the researcher highlights in his study. He also reminds the recent American study on children who showed the detrimental impact on adolescent health of starting school too early in the morning.
“It’s a big societal problem…employees are often sleep deprived. Our society is sleep deprived. It is harmful for our body system because it has an impact on our physical and emotional systems, and on our performance”, explained Dr. Paul Kelley in a scientific conference in Bradford (United Kingdom).
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