(Mark Waghorn/ Study Finds) — Getting less than five hours of sleep at night raises an older person’s risk of premature death by a quarter, according to new research. The study finds middle-aged and older adults are 40 percent more likely to develop at least two life-threatening illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes if they don’t get enough rest.
“Multimorbidity is on the rise in high income countries and more than half of older adults now have at least two chronic diseases. This is proving to be a major challenge for public health, as multimorbidity is associated with high healthcare service use, hospitalizations and disability,” says lead author Dr. Severine Sabia from University College London in a media release.
“As people get older, their sleep habits and sleep structure change. However, it is recommended to sleep for 7 to 8 hours a night – as sleep durations above or below this have previously been associated with individual chronic diseases,” Dr. Sabia continues. “Our findings show that short sleep duration is also associated with multimorbidity.” (…)