We all know that our body needs rest to keep going for 8 hours a day. However, a new study has revealed that sleeping for less than 8 hours or more than 6 hours can actually kill you.
The research which was published in the European Heart Journal examined 116, 000 people who are between 35 to 70 years in 21 countries.
According to the research, people who slept for more than eight hours had a higher risk of getting heart-related diseases or even dying.
‘Sleep is essential to human health, and people spend about a third of their hours sleeping.
‘It is increasingly regarded as an important lifestyle behaviour that can affect cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death,’ the team of international researchers wrote.
From the research, those who slept for more than 10 hours a day had a 41 per cent chance of dying or getting a cardiovascular disease while those who slept for 9 or 10 hours a day had a 17 per cent chance of also dying or getting a cardiovascular disease.
‘Our study shows that the optimal duration of estimated sleep is six to eight hours per day for adults,’ said lead author Chuangshi Wang who is a PhD student at McMaster and Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, China said.
Co-author Professor Salim Yusuf, from McMaster University, Ontario, Canada, added: ‘The general public should ensure that they get about six to eight hours of sleep a day.
‘On the other hand, if you sleep too much regularly, say more than nine hours a day, then you may want to visit a doctor to check your overall health.
‘For doctors, including questions about the duration of sleep and daytime naps in the clinical histories of your patients may be helpful in identifying people at high risk of heart and blood vessel problems or death.’
During the research, the researchers recorded 4, 381 deaths and 4, 364 ‘major cardiovascular events’ after an average follow-up of 8 years.
by: Nana Asabere
