“If people have all these ideal sleep behaviors, they are more likely to live longer,” and 21% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, 19% less likely to die from cancer, and 40% less likely to die from causes other than heart disease or cancer.
According to a new study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session Together With the World Congress of Cardiology, getting enough sleep might help your heart and general health—and perhaps even how long you live.
The research indicated that young individuals with healthier sleeping patterns are marginally less likely to die prematurely. Moreover, the statistics imply that irregular sleep habits may account for around 8% of fatalities from any cause.
The team “saw a clear dose-response relationship, so the more beneficial factors someone has in terms of having higher quality of sleep, they also have a stepwise lowering of all cause and cardiovascular mortality,” remarks co-author Frank Qian.
He thinks “these findings emphasize that just getting enough hours of sleep isn’t sufficient. You really have to have restful sleep and not have much trouble falling and staying asleep.”
Qian and colleagues analyzed data from 172,321 persons (average age 50, 54% female) who volunteered in the National Health Interview Survey between 2013 and 2018 and had a median age of 50. The National Center for Health Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conduct a survey every year that includes queries about sleep and sleeping patterns in an effort to assess the health of Americans. According to Qian, this is the first research that he is aware of that examined how different sleep behaviors—instead of simply sleep duration—might affect life expectancy.
The majority of survey participants—about two-thirds—identified as White, 14.5% Hispanic, 12.6% Black, and 5.5% Asian. Researchers were able to analyze the relationship between individual and combination sleep variables and overall and cause-specific mortality because participants could be linked to the National Death Index data (until December 31, 2019). Participants were tracked for an average of 4.3 years, during which time 8,681 people died. 2,610 of these fatalities (or 30%) were caused by cardiovascular disease, 2,052 (or 24%) by cancer, and 4,019 (or 46%) by other causes.
Researchers used a low-risk sleep score developed from survey responses to measure five key aspects of quality sleep. The following factors were considered: 1) an ideal sleep duration of seven to eight hours per night; 2) difficulty falling asleep no more than twice a week; 3) difficulty staying asleep no more than twice a week; 4) not using any sleep medication; and 5) feeling well rested after waking up at least five days a week. Each element was given a score of zero or one points, with a maximum of five points signifying the best possible sleep.
“If people have all these ideal sleep behaviors, they are more likely to live longer,” Qian points out. “So, if we can improve sleep overall, and identifying sleep disorders is especially important, we may be able to prevent some of this premature mortality.”
For the analysis, researchers took into account other things that might have made the risk of dying higher, such as having a lower socioeconomic status, smoking, drinking alcohol, and having other health problems. Those who had all five favorable sleep factors were 30% less likely to die for any reason, 21% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, 19% less likely to die from cancer, and 40% less likely to die from causes other than heart disease or cancer than those who had zero to one favorable sleep factor. Qian said that the other deaths were probably caused by accidents, infections, or neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and Parkinson’s, but more research is needed.
Life expectancy was 4.7 years longer for males and 2.4 years longer for women among those who reported getting all five indicators of high-quality sleep (a score of five) compared to those who had none or just one of the five beneficial components of low-risk sleep. To understand why males with all five low-risk sleep variables had a double-fold gain in life expectancy compared to women who slept as well, further study is required.
According to Qian, “Even from a young age, if people can develop these good sleep habits of getting enough sleep, making sure they are sleeping without too many distractions, and to have good sleep hygiene overall, it can greatly benefit their overall long-term health.”
He added that for this study, they estimated gains in life expectancy starting at age 30, but the model can also be used to predict gains at older ages.
“It’s important for younger people to understand that a lot of health behaviors are cumulative over time. Just like we like to say, ‘it’s never too late to exercise or stop smoking,’ it’s also never too early. And we should be talking about and assessing sleep more often.”
The study’s self-reporting of sleep patterns without any objective measurement or verification is one of its limitations. Moreover, there was no information provided on the kinds of medications or sleeping pills taken, their frequency of use, or their duration of use. In order to understand how these improvements in life expectancy could persist as individuals age, further study in the future is required. Also, the gender disparities that were noticed need to be investigated further.
Past research has shown that either not getting enough sleep or sleeping too much may have a harmful impact on the heart. Sleep apnea, a sleep disorder in which a person stops or slows breathing while sleeping, has also been linked to a number of heart problems, such as high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and heart attacks.
Image Credit: Getty