According to a number of self-care guides, the normal amount of sleep for the average human being is seven to nine hours, sounds pretty reasonable right?
Well, a new study has claimed sleeping more than eight hours every night could kill you at an early age. Those who make time specifically for sleeping in could actually be triggering a ‘serious sleeping disorder’ which disrupts the respiratory system.
Researchers at Keele University dissected the sleeping patterns of three million people between 1970 to 2017, with their findings published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Their study suggested ‘abnormal sleep is a marker of elevated cardiovascular risk’ and any future work should focus on determining if altering the amount and ‘quality of sleep’ will decrease chances of ‘cardiovascular disease’.
Furthermore, scientists from Manchester, Leeds University and the University of East Anglia found those who sleep for more than eight hours increase the likelihood of getting heart disease by 44 per cent, according to the New York Post.
Speaking to the Mirror, head of the study Dr. Chun Shing Kwok, states:
Our study has an important public health impact in that it shows that excessive sleep is a marker of elevated cardiovascular risk.
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 apnea.
[It] is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep.
Keele University’s sleep study concluded there was ‘a significant association’ between the variations in sleep times and patterns and the ‘mortality and adverse cardiovascular outcomes’. It went onto explain how national guidelines need a review of ‘recommended sleep duration’.
There was also evidence of ‘sleep duration above the recommended level of 7 to 8 hours’ being linked to a fair amount of harm when compared to sleeping below the recommended duration. The more someone deviates from the recommended sleep time, the greater the chances are that you are compromising your own cardiovascular and mortality.
It also suggests abnormal sleep is a sign of ‘elevated CVR’ and serious thought needs to be taken into account during ‘patient consultations’ for both ‘duration and quality of sleep’.
However, one interesting aspect of the study is it doesn’t find a discernable difference between someone who sleeps for the recommended hours as opposed to someone who sleeps less than seven.
It has been suggested in the past the main issue with long sleep is the prolonged inactivity.
In May this year, it was discovered the average British person only gets six hours and 19 minutes sleep per night. A survey of over 2,000 British adults found how technology, lack of exercise and late night eating are among some of the reasons why we just aren’t getting enough shuteye.
If this study doesn’t scare you the trailer for Mara, which is about sleep paralysis, surely will:
This study, which was commissioned by Sainsbury’s with Balance by AromaWorks, discovered how one-quarter of us depend on caffeine to pull us through to the evening.
As many of you can surely relate, it often feels like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done, with 44 per cent of us wrapping up tasks in bed. Despite this, 85 per cent agreed they feel restored after a night’s sleep.
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