Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Six To Eight Hours of Sleep Best For the Heart, Says Study (theguardian.com)

Posted by msmash on from the unravelling-mysteries dept.

Research shows sleep deprivation or excessive hours in bed increase risk of coronary artery disease or stroke. From a report: Six to eight hours of sleep a night is most beneficial for the heart, while more or less than that could increase the risk of coronary artery disease or a stroke, researchers have suggested. The study, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich, indicates sleep deprivation and excessive hours in bed should be avoided for optimum heart health. The study's author, Dr Epameinondas Fountas of the Onassis cardiac surgery centre in Athens, said: "Our findings suggest that too much or too little sleep may be bad for the heart. More research is needed to clarify exactly why, but we do know that sleep influences biological processes like glucose metabolism, blood pressure, and inflammations -- all of which have an impact on cardiovascular disease." Data from more than a million adults from 11 studies was analysed as part of the research. Compared with adults who got six to eight hours of sleep a night, "short sleepers" had an 11% greater risk, while "long sleepers" had 33% increased risk over the next nine years.

13 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. If you don't sleep enough... by SqueakyMouse · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you don't sleep enough, you'll get heart disease. But don't let it keep you awake at night.

  2. Better shorter than longer by manu0601 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Short sleepers and heavy sleepers have lower life expectancy. At least if you are a short sleepers, you actually enjoyed your short time.

  3. Correlation =/= Causation. by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Maybe the people who sleep more or less have sleep differences as s SYMPTOM of some process that causes artery disease.

    1. Re:Correlation =/= Causation. by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, I bet the researchers never thought of that.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:Correlation =/= Causation. by psnyder · · Score: 2

      Exactly. Indulging in unhealthy habits can (sometimes) cause a person to sleep longer. Exercise, and it's easier to get up in the morning.

    3. Re:Correlation =/= Causation. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      How easy it is to get up in the morning is a function of a few things. One is how rested you are generally, but another is just the time of day that you're sleeping. A night owl is not likely to ever wake up early in the morning consistently no matter how early they go to bed, the body temperature in the morning is just going to be too low.

      I'm personally a dedicated night owl and it takes a tremendous amount of discipline to get in bed and asleep before midnight, and even when I do, I have to artificially raise my core body temperature when I wake up, otherwise, it can take hours before I'm fully functioning again. Doesn't matter how rested I am.

  4. Why not go back to the sleep schedule by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    of the middle ages? They lacked bright artificial light so they would naturally fall asleep early, not blasting their eyes with 100 watt incandescent or equivalent or computer screens with blue light. Then they'd sleep for about four hours, wake up for a few hours and spend that time praying, reading, helping bring in another brother or sister for their children, keeping watch over the fort, invading the neighbors, etc. Then they'd fall asleep again for another four or so hours.

    Natural. Healthy. Refreshing. What happened to it? Are we losing our culture and history?

    1. Re:Why not go back to the sleep schedule by cyn1c77 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      of the middle ages? They lacked bright artificial light so they would naturally fall asleep early, not blasting their eyes with 100 watt incandescent or equivalent or computer screens with blue light. Then they'd sleep for about four hours, wake up for a few hours and spend that time praying, reading, helping bring in another brother or sister for their children, keeping watch over the fort, invading the neighbors, etc. Then they'd fall asleep again for another four or so hours.

      Natural. Healthy. Refreshing. What happened to it? Are we losing our culture and history?

      I question your logic. Wasn't the average life expectancy during that period about 30 years?

      Edit: No, I was wrong. 31.3 years.

      This plan sounds neither healthy or refreshing!

    2. Re:Why not go back to the sleep schedule by religionofpeas · · Score: 2

      Average life expectancy was low mainly due to infant mortality and common infections.

    3. Re:Why not go back to the sleep schedule by mikael · · Score: 2

      I did that on my last job. The bus service was so unreliable that even if I left work at 5.30pm to catch the 5.45pm bus, there was no guarantee that it would arrive, since it was on a 2 hour schedule (suburban city had stretched services to the limit). So that involved a walk down to another bus stop, for another inter-city bus service by a private company. That bus would only complete the whole route if more than five people were on it by the time it left the bypass of the departing major city. That was on a 30 minute service and sometimes a bus would be taken out of service even if it was still going back to the station. So I wouldn't get home until 8pm. Enough time to have something to eat, then I would crash out due to the NO2 from the traffic fumes I had inhaled. I'd wake up at 12.30am, stay up until 4am, then go back to bed until 8am.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  5. Holy shit by ArchieBunker · · Score: 2

    A normal amount of sleep is good for you. Who could have guessed?

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  6. Re:What if ... by nukenerd · · Score: 2

    What if you sleep standing upright ?

    In times gone by, poor itinerant workers and homeless people did that. Ropes were slung across rooms (stables and cellars generally) and people slumped over them for the night. Hence the expression "I am so tired I could sleep on a clothes line" :- Seen here

  7. Re: Long Sleepers by nukenerd · · Score: 2

    Try getting healthy food prepared for you ...... We have a long way to go.

    You have a long way to go, not me.