Sudhakar Jha
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Written By: Sudhakar Jha | Published : September 24, 2018 6:10 PM IST
This new study has concluded that getting those hard-earned eight hours sleep is irrelevant if your going to the bed and waking up times are irregular © Shutterstock
We ve told you umpteen number of times about getting a good night's sleep and its importance. But seems like the recommended eight hours of sleep may be all pointless. Wondering why? Because you are not maintaining a regular sleep cycle. Yeah, that s what a new study says!
This new study has concluded that getting those hard-earned eight hours sleep is irrelevant if your going to the bed and waking up times are irregular.
There have been tons of studies that talk about sleep deprivation and its ill effects. And a two-year worldwide study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation saw that teens need between eight and ten hours every night and the adults should aim for seven to nine hours.
But recently, the National Health Service has said that it is the quality and regularity that matters. And also added that the regular poor sleep can shorten the life expectancy of people.
"An occasional night without sleep makes you feel tired and irritable the next day, but it won't harm your health," the NHS said in a press statement. "If it continues, lack of sleep can affect your overall health and make you prone to serious medical conditions, such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes," it added.
Researchers from the Duke University Medical Center analysed sleeping patterns of 2,000 adults aged between 54 and 93 who had no history of sleeping disorders. They established the link between bedtime patterns and the risk of developing various diseases in 10 years. The patients were asked to wear sleep tracking devices for the study period of seven days and also maintain sleep diaries.
At the end of the study, the experts found that those with irregular bedtimes had a higher body mass index (BMI), higher levels of blood sugar, higher blood pressure and were more likely to have a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years than those who maintained a regular sleep patterns.
However, Dr Jessica Lunsford-Avery, who led the study, said in the study that they could not conclude if "sleep irregularity results in health risks, or whether health conditions affect sleep. Perhaps all of these things are impacting each other".
"Perhaps there's something about obesity that disrupts sleep regularity," she added in the study. "Or, as some research suggests, perhaps poor sleep interferes with the body's metabolism which can lead to weight gain, and it's a vicious cycle."
