Irregular Sleep Patterns Linked To Risk Of One Hundred And Seventy Two Diseases Study Finds

A major UK Biobank study shows that inconsistent sleep timing, not just sleep duration, is associated with increased risk for 172 diseases, including liver cirrhosis and cardiovascular conditions light on an intriguing aspect of sleep that could fundamentally change our understanding of its role in long-term health. The research indicates that irregular sleep patterns, rather than simply the amount of sleep one gets, are closely associated with an elevated risk of developing a staggering 172 different diseases. Among these conditions are serious health issues, such as liver cirrhosis and various cardiovascular diseases. researchers examined the sleep data of over 88,000 adults, revealing striking correlations between various sleep traits and the incidence of numerous diseases. They carefully considered six specific sleep-related characteristics, which included factors such as how long individuals slept at night, the timing of sleep onset, the rhythm of their sleep (including the strength of their circadian rhythm and overall stability), and the extent of sleep fragmentation, which encompasses the efficiency of sleep and the frequency with which individuals wake up during the night. Interestingly, this study also challenges the longstanding notion that excessively long sleep durations, particularly those exceeding nine hours, are inherently harmful. While some previous subjective research has suggested links between extended sleep and adverse health outcomes such as strokes and heart disease, the new objective data confirms this only for one disease. A potential source of confusion arises from the misclassification of sleep duration; astonishingly, about 21.67% of individuals categorized as “long sleepers” were getting less than six hours of sleep. This suggests a significant misinterpretation where the time spent in bed is often mistaken for actual sleep.

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