Early to bed and early to rise: Does it matter?

BACKGROUND:
Controversy remains about whether early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise (the Ben Franklin hypothesis), or healthy, wealthy and dead (the James Thurber hypothesis).

METHODS:
As part of the Determinants of Myocardial Infarction Onset Study, the bedtimes and wake times of 949 men admitted to hospital with acute myocardial infarction were recorded through personal interviews. Participants reported their educational attainment and zip code of residence, from which local median income was estimated. Early-to-bed and early-to-rise was defined respectively as a bedtime before 11 pm and wake time before 6:30 am. Participants were followed for mortality for a mean of 3.7 years.

RESULTS:
Hours in bed were inversely associated with number of cups of coffee consumed.
The mortality of early-to-bed, early-to-risers did not differ significantly from other groups. There was also no relation between bed habits and local income, nor with educational attainment.

INTERPRETATION:
Results refute both the Franklin and Thurber hypotheses.
Early to bed and early to rise is not associated with health, wealth or wisdom.(1)

Ref: 1. Mukamal KJ, Wellenius GA; CMAJ. 2006 Dec 5;175(12):1560-2