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Posted on Jan 25, 2003, 10 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
The old adage that 8 hours of sleep is required for good health could well be wrong, recent study results suggest. After analyzing data from more than 1-million people, researchers at the University of California found that people who sleep for more than eight hours or less than four hours are 15% more likely to die over a six-year period than those who manage six or seven hours of shuteye each night.
The old adage that 8 hours of sleep is required for good health could well be wrong, recent study results suggest. After analyzing data from more than 1-million people, researchers at the University of California found that people who sleep for more than eight hours or less than four hours are 15% more likely to die over a six-year period than those who manage six or seven hours of shuteye each night.
Study leader Dr Daniel Kripke and his team also found that bouts of insomnia did not appear to increase the risk of death, although the use of prescription sleeping medications was associated with a slightly increased risk of dying during the six-year-long study period. However, Krippe notes that the study does not prove that sleeping pills are responsible for this apparent of risk of mortality. He also stressed that many of the drugs that patients had been prescribed during the study are no longer routinely used to treat insomnia.
Previous research has hinted that getting less than eight hours beauty sleep each night could be detrimental to health, however this study could not find any evidence to suggest that this is the case. "Additional studies are needed to determine if setting your alarm clock earlier will actually improve your health. Individuals who now average six-and-a-half hours of sleep a night can be reassured this is a safe amount of sleep," Krippe said. According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), the average American adult gets 7 hours of sleep on weekdays.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Archives of General Psychiatry 2002; 59:131-136
