We know, we know … after years of mastering your sleep preferences, you know just how much sleep you need – but you may not be the best judge of that after all.
New research suggests people should get between 6 and 8 hours of sleep. That’s the “sweet spot” because it’s the most beneficial for a healthy heart. Any more, or any less is detrimental – the sweet spot is no joke!
“We spend one-third of our lives sleeping, yet we know little about the impact of this biological need on the cardiovascular system,” said Epameinondas Fountas, cardiology specialty registrar at the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Centre in Athens, Greece.
He studied the relationship between sleep duration and cardiovascular disease using a statistical tool to cross-analyze the results of previous studies. This “meta-analysis” includes eleven prospective studies of more than 1 million adults without cardiovascular disease published in the last 5 years.
The research, released this weekend, found that both short and long sleepers had a greater risk of developing or dying from coronary artery disease/stroke. Yikes!
Similar research, also recently released, concluded that middle-aged men who sleep 5 hours or less per night have twice the risk of developing a major cardiovascular event over the next 20 years – in comparison to men who sleep 7 to 8 hours.
Although, earlier research suggests some people have a natural inclination to sleep less, regardless of health concerns – a 2014 study said some could function on 5 hours of sleep… but still, CDC research shows that about one-third of US adults get less than 7 hours of sleep.
Those experiencing a prolonged lack of sleep are more likely to suffer from hypertension, diabetes, depression, obesity, cancer, increased mortality.
So, the choice is yours – too much or too little sleep can be deadly… are you willing to live, or sleep, in the “sweet spot”?