Health News
A research team at University College London explored how sleeping less than five hours a night enhances the risk of chronic diseases. The study is published in the journal PLOS Medicine.
The Study
To understand better how less than five hours of sleep a night impacts health, the researchers analyzed data from the Whitehall II cohort study in the UK. It covered more than 7,000 men and women at the ages of 50, 60, and 70 years, respectively.
Factors like duration of sleep each night, mortality, and multimorbidity (diagnosis of two or more chronic diseases) over the course of 25 years were examined.
The Findings
The results revealed that sleeping for five hours or less every night increases the risk of multimorbidity by 40%. In a span of 25 years, people with such sleep deficiency are likely to be diagnosed with multiple chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, or diabetes.
One of the lead researchers, Dr. Severine Sabia, elaborated: “As people get older, their sleep habits and sleep structure change. However, it is recommended to sleep for 7 to 8 hours a night—as sleep durations above or below this have previously been associated with individual chronic diseases.”
To Know More You May Refer To
Sabia, S., Dugravot, A., Léger, D., Ben Hassen, C., Kivimaki, M., & Singh-Manoux, A. (2022). Association of sleep duration at age 50, 60, and 70 years with risk of multimorbidity in the UK: 25-year follow-up of the Whitehall II cohort study. PLoS medicine, 19(10), e1004109. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004109
