Lack of sleep linked to early death (2 related articles)
1. Lack of sleep linked to early death
Wednesday, May 5 09:02 am
Sleeping less than six hours a night increases the risk of early death, it has been claimed.
Scientists arrived at the result after analysing data from 16 studies involving more than 1.5 million participants.
They found “unequivocal evidence” of a direct link between sleeping less than six hours a night and dying prematurely.
People who regularly had this little sleep were 12% more likely to die over a period of 25 years or less than those who got the recommended six to eight hours.
An association was also seen between sleeping more than nine hours a night and early death. This was thought to be due to long-sleeping being a marker of serious underlying illness rather than any effect of sleep itself.
Professor Francesco Cappucio, head of the Sleep, Health and Society Programme at the University of Warwick, said: “Whilst short sleep may represent a cause of ill-health, long sleep is believed to represent more an indicator of ill-health.
“Modern society has seen a gradual reduction in the average amount of sleep people take, and this pattern is more common amongst full-time workers, suggesting that it may be due to societal pressures for longer working hours and more shift-work. On the other hand, the deterioration of our health status is often accompanied by an extension of our sleeping time.”
The research, reported in the journal Sleep, reviewed 16 prospective studies from the UK, US, Europe and Asia which together monitored more than 1.3 people for up to 25 years.
In total, more than 100,000 deaths were recorded during the observation periods.
Pooling together data in this way, known as meta-analysis, can indicate patterns and trends that may not be obvious in individual studies.
2. Lack of sleep ‘poses death risk’
Getting less than six hours sleep a night can lead to an early grave, UK and Italian researchers have warned.
They said people regularly having such little sleep were 12% more likely to die over a 25-year period than those who got an “ideal” six to eight hours.
They also found an association between sleeping for more than nine hours and early death, although that much sleep may merely be a marker of ill health.
Sleep journal reports the findings, based on 1.5m people in 16 studies.
The study looked at the relationship between sleep and mortality by reviewing earlier studies from the UK, US and European and East Asian countries.
Premature death from all causes was linked to getting either too little or too much sleep outside of the “ideal” six to eight hours per night.
But while a lack of sleep may be a direct cause of ill health, ultimately leading to an earlier death, too much sleep may merely be a marker of ill health already, the UK and Italian researchers believe.
Time pressures
Professor Francesco Cappuccio, leader of the Sleep, Health and Society Programme at the UK’s University of Warwick, said: “Modern society has seen a gradual reduction in the average amount of sleep people take and this pattern is more common amongst full-time workers, suggesting that it may be due to societal pressures for longer working hours and more shift-work.
“On the other hand, the deterioration of our health status is often accompanied by an extension of our sleeping time.”
Sleep expert Professor Jim Horne
If the link between a lack of sleep and death is truly causal, it would equate to over 6.3 million attributable deaths in the UK in people over 16 years of age.
Prof Cappuccio said more work was needed to understand exactly why sleep seemed to be so important for good health.
Professor Jim Horne, of the Loughborough Sleep Research Centre, said other factors may be involved rather than sleep per se.
“Sleep is just a litmus paper to physical and mental health. Sleep is affected by many diseases and conditions, including depression,” he said.
And getting improved sleep may not make someone better or live longer, he said.
“But having less than five hours a night suggests something is probably not right.
“Five hours is insufficient for most people and being drowsy in the day increases your risk of having an accident if driving or operating dangerous machinery.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8660373.stm
Published: 2010/05/04 23:11:45 GMT
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