Starting work before 9am is akin to “torture”

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11511338

Making people aged under 55 start work before 9am is akin to “torture,” according to one of the UK’s leading sleep experts.

Forcing staff to work nine-to-five leaves their bodies exhausted and stressed as a result of sleep deprivation, says Dr Paul Kelley.

The Oxford University academic said it posed a threat to performance until the age of 55 when humans start needing less sleep.

Dr Kelley, said: “We cannot change our 24-hour rhythms. You cannot learn to get up at a certain time. Your body will be attuned to sunlight and you’re not conscious of it because it reports to hypothalamus, not sight.