Bad sleeping doubles the risk of heart disease

[StrongInTheArm]

A thread a few months ago concerned how much time we all sleep and in that thread a number of people expressed problems with sleeping and a few stated they slept less than seven hours a night. With this in mind I think it worthwhile to draw your attention to this latest study.

It suggests that sleeping less than, or indeed more than seven hours a night more than doubled your risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

"Teams from the University of Warwick and University College London examined sleep patterns and death rates over two decades among 10,308 civil servants."

"They found a doubled risk among those who cut their sleeping from seven to five hours a night compared to those who stuck to seven hours a night.

"But the risk was similar for those who increased to at least eight hours."

The full article can be read here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7009927.stm

Your thoughts and comments are welcome.

[coolguy27]

Thanks for the informative post STRONG....A Helpful post....

[Zap]

I don't think it has anything to do with sleep. These people are dying because they live in London.

[Julie]

Oh, I read something in the Daily Mail last week too about sleep.... kids who don't get enough sleep are more likely to become fat.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1774

I also heard, and I don't remember where or when or what study it was, but adults who get less sleep also tend to eat more... because you're up more and you expend more energy, etc... and therefore you're more likely to become overweight.

[StrongInTheArm]

Originally Posted by Zap

I don't think it has anything to do with sleep. These people are dying because they live in London.

The article says:
"The researchers took into account other possible factors such age, sex, marital status, employment grade, smoking status and physical activity."

So who knows, living in an urban environment may have been a contributing factor. Although it does not say where the civil servants lived and they could well have been from outside London. I suppose with a sample size of over 10,000 I would have expected the researchers to have sort a representative sample from the whole country, but those details are not included in the article.

Extrapolating from any one study should be done with care.

[swiftmed]

interesting. i dont think i will have that problem, i sleep between 9-12 hours a night.

[Costin Trifan]

Originally Posted by Julie

Oh, I read something in the Daily Mail last week too about sleep.... kids who don't get enough sleep are more likely to become fat.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1774

I also heard, and I don't remember where or when or what study it was, but adults who get less sleep also tend to eat more... because you're up more and you expend more energy, etc... and therefore you're more likely to become overweight.

Really??

Then I should be looking now like a sumo fighter not like a skeleton...

[kristeejo]

one more thing to worry about when trying to fall asleep ; )

[Costin Trifan]

thank you...
If you'd be looking like me you would understand me then....

[Julie]

Quite frankly, I don't think you can take any one scientific study as gospel. Especially without reading the entire study results, knowing their methodology, what things they measured, etc. When more than one research study starts coming up with the same results, and have tested all the variables, then I take notice more than I might otherwise. I mean obviously, I still keep abreast of the latest news and developments, but some things you have to take with a grain of salt.

As for this study, it is hard to weigh in with my opinion. There could be other factors that cause the bad sleep, such as some kind of stressor, and its really the stressor, NOT the bad sleep or lack of sleep causing the problem.

[livecoder]

Thanks for the information dude..I also read a related article in a magazine..

[jamaine12]

Well if that's true i'm closer to death...

[jo_cstd]

Now I'm starting to get really confused.

Although it’s a common belief that 8 hours of sleep is required for optimal health, a six-year study of more than one million adults ages 30 to 102 has shown that people who get only 6 to 7 hours a night have a lower death rate. Individuals who sleep 8 hours or more, or less than 4 hours a night, were shown to have a significantly increased death rate compared to those who averaged 6 to 7 hours.

http://health.ucsd.edu/news/2002/02_08_Kripke.html

[StrongInTheArm]

JO CSTD: I think the two studies are saying something similar, namely that 7 hours sleep a night is the optimum that we should aim for. More or less than that has an impact on your health over the long term.

This similarity is interesting in itself. Julie mentioned that we should not hold up one study to be the truth, that a number of studies have to confirm the findings before we can be more definite. Well that is two showing similar results.

Julie: I would agree with you for the most part, but I would add that the sample size for the study I first quoted was not trivial, over 10,000 individuals. This size would average out most anomalies, but you are right it is just one study and that has to be taken into account.

[John Scott]

I find it hard to believe that sleeping is bad for you...

[D3n!ss3_gÜrL]

Originally Posted by John Scott

I find it hard to believe that sleeping is bad for you...

hehe i think you misunderstood the firts post... but read the article...

sleeping itself is not bad of course! but what the study says, sleeping less than 7 hours a day would increase the risk of death because of heart disease.

[cldnails]

Whatever you do, do not eat, drink, do, don't anything. I mean anything, because chances are I can find a 'research study' proving it one way or another.

Fear-Mongering!!!!! FTW

[D3n!ss3_gÜrL]

Originally Posted by cldnails

Whatever you do, do not eat, drink, do, don't anything. I mean anything, because chances are I can find a 'research study' proving it one way or another.

Fear-Mongering!!!!! FTW

haha is that what they call PARANOIA?