Getting Too Much or Too Little Sleep Impacts Health

In a study on sleep duration, individuals who experiences long or short sleep durations were more likely to rate themselves in poor health than healthy sleepers. Long sleep duration is defined as getting nine hours or more per night. Short sleep duration is defined as getting five hours or less per night. Normal sleepers are in the range of eight to nine hours per night. The study conducted in Korea was published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. The study surveyed over 15,000 participants from various subgroups including gender, age, and body mass index. The associations between long and short sleep durations and poor self-rated health were independent of sociodemographic, health risk behavior, and health status variables.

The results of this study are interesting because it showed that both types of sleep patterns were associated with poor health. Short sleepers were 1.4 times more likely to have poor self-rated health than individuals who reported an average of 7 hours a night. Long sleepers were 1.3 times more likely to have poor self-rated health. The researchers did note short and long sleep duration can impair glucose tolerance, increase inflammation, and increase uric acid levels.

Overall this study revealed the benefits of getting a normal amount of sleep. Getting too much or too little sleep was associated with poor-health. This study simply revealed, in a large sample, that most people found the most benefit from getting an appropriate amount of sleep per night.

Contact FusionSleep if you are concerned about the amount of sleep you are getting on a regular basis, especially if you believe this amount is adversely effecting your healthy.