Lack of sleep linked to early death: study
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LONDON (AFP) - – People who get less than six hours sleep per night have an increased risk of dying prematurely, researchers said on Wednesday.
Those who slumbered for less than that amount of time were 12 percent more likely to die early, though researchers also found a link between sleeping more than nine hours and premature death.
"If you sleep little, you can develop diabetes, obesity, hypertension and high cholesterol," Francesco Cappuccio, who led research on the subject at Britain's University of Warwick, told AFP.
The study, conducted with the Federico II University in Naples, Italy, aggregated decade-long studies from around the world involving more than 1.3 million people and found "unequivocal evidence of the direct link" between lack of sleep and premature death.
"We think that the relation between little sleep and illness is due to a series of hormonal and metabolical mechanisms," Cappuccio said.
The findings of the study were published in the Sleep journal.
Cappuccio believes the duration of sleep is a public health issue and should be considered as a behavioural risk factor by doctors.
"Society pushes us to sleep less and less," Cappuccio said, adding that about 20 percent of the population in the United States and Britain sleeps less than five hours.
Sleeping less than six hours is "more common amongst full-time workers, suggesting that it may be due to societal pressures for longer working hours and more shift work"
The study also found a link between sleeping more than nine hours per night and premature death, but Cappuccio said oversleeping is more likely to be an effect of illness, rather than a cause.
"Doctors never ask how much one sleeps, but that could be an indicator that something is wrong," said Cappuccio, who heads the Sleep, Health and Society Programme at the University of Warwick.
Research showed no adverse effects for those sleeping between six and eight hours per day.
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thks for posting. wonderful insights.
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i think sleep too much also dunno what problem
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Researchers report that sleep deprivation can double the chances of dying from a cardiovascular event. However, too much sleep appears to be even more dangerous for us, more than doubling the likelihood of dying from other causes. In a research project headed by Professor Francesco Cappuccio from the University of Warwick's Medical School, researchers from the University of Warwick and the University College London collected data on 10,308 civil servants sleeping habits and mortality rates between the years 1985 to 2004. The project's disturbing results were recently published in the journal SLEEP.
The recommended amount of sleep for an adult person is 7 hours per night, and routinely sleeping less might be risky. In the research project, data regarding civil servants sleeping habits was collected between the years 1985-8 and 1992-3; the civil servants mortality rates were then checked in 2004. Other factors like age, BMI (body mass index), smoking habits, physical condition, etc. were all taken into consideration. The results showed that the mortality rate of people whose sleeping period decreased from 7 hours a night in the years 1985-8 to 5 hours a night (or less) in the years 1992-3, was 1.7 times higher than the mortality rate of the people who had continued sleeping the recommended 7 hours per night. Cardiovascular problems were the most common cause of death in those persons who had slept less than 7 hours a night.
It is well known that modern society encourages people to sleep less, and many people do not get enough sleep. This latest study has proven there is a connection between insufficient sleep and high mortality rates.
However, the scientists also found that sleeping more than 7 hours a night may also be bad for us. Among the civil servants who increased their nightly sleeping period from 7 hours per night to 8 hours per night or more, the overall mortality rate more than doubled! In this case, cardiovascular problems did not seem to be the main cause of death. The scientist are still trying to establish what lies behind these findings, and what is the true reason for these high mortality rates in well-rested people. In any case, based on these results, it seems clear that sleeping too much is also not recommended.
The Warwick research project produced interesting and potentially important findings regarding the connection between sleeping habits and mortality rates. Although there is much work to be done in this field, we might all need to start considering our sleeping habits more carefully.
Source: http://thefutureofthings.com/news/1026/dont-sleep-too-much-it-might-kill-you.html
As always, everything should be in moderation.
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Well this dude should not have that problem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YBBpBr6oqE