Why too much sleep could be bad for your health!

Sleeping for more than 8 hours each night increases the likelihood of an early death: Scientific study reveals a 47% higher risk of heart disease and strokes

• The new study involved more than 3.3 million people from around the world
• It was led by the universities of Keele, Manchester, Leeds and East Anglia
• Scientists said excessive sleep should be considered a ‘marker’ of poor health
• One explanation could be getting too much sleep means too little exercise

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People who get too much sleep are at greater risk of an early death than those who get too little, research suggests.

Experts found those who sleep for more than eight hours a night have greater mortality risk than those who sleep for less than seven hours.

The study, involving more than 3.3 million people around the world, found sleeping for too long also raised the risk of heart disease and strokes.

The scientists – from the universities of Keele, Manchester, Leeds and East Anglia – said excessive sleep should be considered a ‘marker’ of poor health.

Writing in the Journal of the American Heart Association, they said one explanation could be getting too much sleep means people get too little exercise, raising their risk of heart problems.

But it is more likely that people who sleep for too long are already suffering from undiagnosed problems.

Experts found those who sleep for more than eight hours a night have greater mortality risk than those who sleep for less than seven hours

‘Long sleep duration may be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease because of … comorbidities that lead to fatigue, such as chronic inflammatory disorders and anaemia,’ they wrote.

‘Depressive symptoms, low socioeconomic status, unemployment and low physical activity are also associated with long sleep duration.’

The academics said doctors should screen patients who are sleeping for a long time each night for heart problems.

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The lowest risk was shown for those who slept between seven and eight hours per day, the researchers said.

For people who got less sleep, the risk of disease and death rose gradually, but not enough to be statistically significant.

But for people who got more than this, the effect was dramatic.

WHAT IS INSOMNIA?

Insomnia means you regularly have problems sleeping. It usually gets better by changing your sleeping habits.

You have insomnia if you regularly: find it hard to go to sleep, wake up several times during the night, lie awake at night, wake up early and can’t go back to sleep, still feel tired after waking up

Everyone needs different amounts of sleep. On average, adults need 7 to 9 hours, while children need 9 to 13 hours.

You probably don’t get enough sleep if you’re constantly tired during the day.

The most common causes of insomnia are: stress, anxiety or depression, excessive noise, an uncomfortable bed or alcohol, caffeine or nicotine.

Insomnia usually gets better by changing your sleeping habits. For example, going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, and only going to bed when you feel tired.

Source: NHS

People who slept for nine hours a night had a 14 per cent increased mortality risk, among those who got 10 hours the risk went up 30 per cent and those who slept for 11 hours were 47 per cent more likely to die an early death.

People who got 10 hours or more were also at a 56 per cent increased risk of dying from a stroke and 49 per cent increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

The researchers combined the results of 74 previous studies to produce the results.

Lead researcher Dr Chun Shing Kwok of Keele University said: ‘Our study has an important public health impact in that it shows that excessive sleep is a marker of elevated cardiovascular risk.

‘Our findings have important implications as clinicians should have greater consideration for exploring sleep duration and quality during consultations.

‘If excessive sleep patterns are found, particularly prolonged durations of eight hours or more, then clinicians should consider screening for adverse cardiovascular risk factors and obstructive sleep apnoea, which is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep.’

Dr Kwok added: ‘The important message is that abnormal sleep is a marker of elevated cardiovascular risk and greater consideration should be given in exploring both duration and sleep quality during patient consultations.

‘Sleep affects everyone.

‘The amount and quality of our sleep is complex. There are cultural, social, psychological, behavioural, pathophysiological and environmental influences on our sleep such as the need to care for children or family members, irregular working shift patterns, physical or mental illness, and the 24-hour availability of commodities in modern society.’

A recent study by the University of California suggested that people sleep too much in modern society.

The authors of that paper, published in 2015 in the journal Current Biology, found that members of the San tribe from Namibia, the Hadza of Tanzania and the Tsimane tribe from Bolivia slept on average just six hours and 25 minutes.

Researcher Jerome Siegel said: ‘The argument has always been that modern life has reduced our sleep time below the amount our ancestors got, but our data indicates that this is a myth.’ 

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