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The Sleep Duration Linked To Slower Ageing In A Huge Study
HuffPost UK • • health
Key Points:
- A recent study published in Nature found that sleeping between 6.4 and 7.8 hours per night is associated with the slowest biological ageing, based on data from about half a million adults.
- Biological age measures cellular wear and tear and can differ from chronological age; a lower biological age gap indicates cells acting younger, which correlates with reduced risk of stroke and brain diseases.
- Sleeping less than six hours or more than eight hours was linked to increased risk of systemic diseases and higher all-cause mortality, as assessed across 23 biological clocks covering 17 organ systems.
- Optimal sleep duration varied slightly by organ system, with heart-related proteins suggesting six hours as ideal, and brain proteins favoring eight hours, but overall six to eight hours correlated with better health outcomes and lower rates of conditions like type 2 diabetes and depression.
- The study identified correlations but did not establish causation, acknowledging that underlying health conditions could influence both sleep patterns and biological ageing.
