How too much sleep could be bad for you...
‘The effect was dramatic’
WE’RE always told that getting more shut-eye is better than less.
But it seems spending too long in bed could be bad for you as well.
For people who get too much sleep are at greater risk of an early death than those who get too little, research suggests. Experts found that those who sleep for more than eight hours a night have a greater mortality risk than those who sleep for less than seven hours.
Sleeping for nine hours a night saw the risk of early death by any cause increased by 14% – rising to 47% for those who got 11 hours.
The study, involving more than 3.3million people around the world, found sleeping 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.
One explanation could be that 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, including illnesses that come as the result of a primary disease, known as comorbidities.
‘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,’ the team wrote in the Journal of the American Heart Association,
‘Depressive symptoms, low socioeconomic status, unemployment and low physical activity are also associated with long sleep duration.’
They added that doctors should screen patients who are sleeping for a long time each night for heart problems. The lowest risk of disease and death was shown for those who slept between seven and eight hours per day, the researchers said. For people who got less, the risk rose gradually, but not enough to be statistically significant.
But for people who got more, the effect was dramatic.
People who slept for nine hours a night had a 14% increased mortality risk, among those who got ten hours the risk went up 30% and those who slept for 11 hours were 47% more likely to die an early death.
People who got ten hours or more were also at a 56% increased risk of dying from a stroke and 49% increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. The researchers combined the results of 74 other 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.
‘Clinicians should have greater consideration for exploring sleep duration and quality during consultations.
‘If excessive sleep patterns are found, then clinicians should consider screening for adverse cardiovascular risk factors and obstructive sleep apnoea, a sleep disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep.’