Lack of sleep has been linked to early death.
Kenny Chesney’s and George Strait’s, “A Big Ole Pile of Shiiiiiiiift Work” along with “societal pressures for longer working hours” leading to less than six hours of sleep per night can end up causing trouble.
A recent study published in the “Sleep Journal” reported that those who sleep less than six hours a night have an increased risk of dying prematurely. In fact, those who sleep less than that amount are 12 percent more likely to die early. At the same time, the study found that sleeping more than nine hours each night could be linked to premature death. The study found that oversleeping is more likely to be an effect of illness, rather than a cause.
Francesco Cappuccio, lead researcher at Britain’s University of Warwick, said, “If you sleep little, you can develop diabetes, obesity, hypertension and high cholesterol.” “We think that the relation between little sleep and illness is due to a series of hormonal and metabolical mechanisms.”
Cappuccio believes that the lack of sleep is a public health issue and should be taken into consideration by doctors when considering behavioral risk factors. “Doctors never ask how much one sleeps, but that could be an indicator that something is wrong.” said Cappuccio.
“Society pushes us to sleep less and less.” He added that nearly 20 percent of Americans and Brits sleep less than five hours. The study, which was conducted with the Federico II University in Naples, Italy, showed no adverse effects for those sleeping between six and eight hours a day.
The research was an accumulation of studies from around the world involving more than 1 million people. Cappuccio said that it was, “Unequivocal evidence of the direct link” between lack of sleep and premature death.