Both too much and too little sleep linked to disease and death

Mortality increases are associated with both too much and too little sleep, a new analysis of the Whitehall II study data among civil servants has revealed.

Researchers at the University of Warwick and UCL found they could identify effects on mortality and disease resulting from sleep patterns many years before, even when other factors such as age, alcohol consumption, smoking and so on were taken into account.

Results from the study were revealed at the British Sleep Society conference this week, and will be published shortly in the journal Sleep.

Analysis of the Whitehall II data showed those who cut their sleep from seven to

five hours faced a 1.7-fold increase in mortality from all causes. Those who slept more than eight hours, however, were also at increased risk of death, mostly from cardiovascular causes.

The findings suggest that consistently sleeping around seven hours each night is optimal for health. http://tinyurl.com/2dhzyb