A new study says sleeping less than 6 hours can be fatal to health
| Oct 3, 2019, 15:09 IST
Sleep is of high importance. Even the latest studies agree. According to a new study, adults who sleep less than six hours a day have a high risk of cancer and dying early.
The findings of this study were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
“Our study suggests that achieving normal sleep may be protective for some people with these health conditions and risks,” said lead author Julio Fernandez-Mendoza, Ph.D., associate professor at Pennsylvania State College of Medicine and sleep psychologist at the Sleep Research & Treatment Center of the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Participants were studied in the sleep laboratory (1991-1998) for one night and then researchers tracked their cause of death up to the end of 2016.
In this study, of the 512 people who passed away, one-third died of heart disease or stroke and one-fourth died due to cancer.
The increased risk of early death for people with high blood pressure or diabetes was negligible if they slept for more than 6 hours.
“Short sleep duration should be included as a useful risk factor to predict the long-term outcomes of people with these health conditions and as a target of primary and specialized clinical practices,” Fernandez-Mendoza said.
Sleep duration in this study was based on observing one night’s sleep, which may be affected by the first-night effect where participants sleep significantly worse the first night in a lab compared to other consecutive nights, which is the type of sleep study routinely used in clinical practices.
The findings of this study were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
“Our study suggests that achieving normal sleep may be protective for some people with these health conditions and risks,” said lead author Julio Fernandez-Mendoza, Ph.D., associate professor at Pennsylvania State College of Medicine and sleep psychologist at the Sleep Research & Treatment Center of the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Participants were studied in the sleep laboratory (1991-1998) for one night and then researchers tracked their cause of death up to the end of 2016.
In this study, of the 512 people who passed away, one-third died of heart disease or stroke and one-fourth died due to cancer.
The increased risk of early death for people with high blood pressure or diabetes was negligible if they slept for more than 6 hours.
“Short sleep duration should be included as a useful risk factor to predict the long-term outcomes of people with these health conditions and as a target of primary and specialized clinical practices,” Fernandez-Mendoza said.
Sleep duration in this study was based on observing one night’s sleep, which may be affected by the first-night effect where participants sleep significantly worse the first night in a lab compared to other consecutive nights, which is the type of sleep study routinely used in clinical practices.