Staying up late seems to be a common occurrence among young people today. We often hear people around us advise us: Don’t stay up late, go to bed early, and the damage to the body from staying up late is very great. So, what are the specific harms of staying up late? When can one be considered to have stayed up late if they do not sleep at night and sleep during the day?

What are the dangers of staying up late?

It is often said that staying up late is harmful, but what impact does staying up late actually have on the human body? Professor Chen Zuhui of the First Hospital affiliated with Jinan University indicated in an interview that the balance of yin and yang in the body is certain. When our normal schedule is disrupted, the balance of yin and yang in the body will be out of balance. Simply put, staying up late is a deviation from this balance.

1. Staying up late easily causes a fire

Long-term stay-up-laters are deeply aware of this. After staying up late, some people may feel hoarseness, sore throat, dry mouth and tongue, and other symptoms the next day. These are all signs of fire, which is caused by insufficient yin and excessive qi after staying up late.

2. Susceptible to catching a cold

After staying up late, when the body is in a state of vigorous fire, the healthy qi is insufficient, the immune system decreases, and the body is very susceptible to external pathogens, such as catching a cold with symptoms like fever due to external wind and cold.

3. Cause various chronic diseases

If the body is in a state of imbalance between yin and yang for a long time, various chronic diseases may follow one after another. Although it may not be felt immediately that staying up late causes harm, when accumulated over time, the body will erupt at a certain point. Moreover, as age increases, the side effects of staying up late become more and more pronounced.

4. Increase the risk of carcinogens

Staying up late can disrupt the human body’s biological clock, increasing the risk of cancer. In fact, as early as 2007, the World Health Organization had already defined staying up late as a 2A class carcinogen element.