A new research has shown that sleeping for less than five hours per night could put older people at premature death risk by 25%. The study established that older and middle-aged adults are more likely to develop life-threatening illnesses like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease if they don’t get adequate rest.
University College London’s Dr Severine Sabia said that there are increases in multimorbidity in developed nations and close to 50% of adults currently have a minimum of two chronic conditions. Sabia explains that it has become a huge challenge in public health management considering multimorbidity is often linked to higher healthcare service utilization, disability and hospitalization.
Sleeping patterns tend to change as people age, but it is still advisable for one to sleep between 7-8 hours. Sleep durations below or more than this have previously been linked with individual chronic diseases. In addition, the study findings demonstrate that short sleep duration can be linked to multimorbidity.
Good sleep hygiene is necessary for one to have a better sleep. Always ensure the bedroom is dark, quiet, and at the right temperature before sleeping. Electronic devices should be removed from the room and don’t eat large meals before bedtime. The study also recommends that exposure to light and physical activity during the day might promote better sleep.
Past studies indicate that exposure to blue light at night from electronic devices makes the brain think that it is daytime which blocks the release of melatonin, the hormone responsible for making someone sleep. Another habit researchers want people to avoid is late-night snacking because it can result in obesity through fat storage increase and metabolism reduction.
Researchers compared the effect of self—reported sleep duration on 7,864 participants and evaluated the relationship with mortality and if each subject had at least two chronic conditions. At 60 years, individuals who slept for less than five hours at night were 32% more likely to have at least two chronic diseases than those who slept for at least seven hours.