A recent study out of the UK and France found that starting at age 50, those who slept 5 or less hours a night have a 30% increased risk of several serious, chronic diseases (see below) and by the age of 70, in those who slept five or less hours a night the risk increases to 40%.
The 12 diseases that increase with Poor Sleep include:
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Heart Disease
- Stroke
- Heart Failure
- Chronic Obstructive Sleep Apnea
- Chronic Kidney Disease
- Liver Disease
- Depression
- Dementia
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Arthritis
In this study the researchers asked 8000 people in the UK as part of a larger study. They were asked to rate their sleep every 4-5 years and were followed for the next 25 years.
Unfortunately, if the participant slept 9 or more hours a night, those aged 60 and 70 were also at increased risk for these
chronic conditions.
In conclusion, this study reinforces the health benefits, way beyond weight, for sleep of 7-9 hours per night over a lifetime.
There were several limitations to this study.
- 2/3 were male
- 90% were white
- The data was collected via self-reports and therefore may be affected by reporting bias.
- This group also seemed to be healthier than the general population.
