(ORDO NEWS) — The men who scored all five on the quality of sleep had an increase in life expectancy of nearly five years, while the women had an increase of 2.4 years.
Scientists from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and Harvard Medical School (USA) found that quality sleep not only plays a role in maintaining overall health, but also significantly affects life expectancy, reducing the risk of premature death by 30%.
The results of the study will be presented at the World Congress of Cardiology, which will be held from March 4 to 6 in New Orleans, but for now, this is described in a press release on the website of the American College of Cardiology.
The authors of the work studied data from 172,321 people who participated in the 2013-2018 health survey among US residents, which was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics.
The average age of the respondents was 50 years, more than half (54%) were women. Approximately 67% of respondents were white, 14.5% were Hispanic, 12.6% were black, and 5.5% were Asian.
Since the scientists had data from the National Mortality Index of the United States of America up to the end of 2019, they were able to study the relationship of all-cause mortality with factors that affect sleep, both together and separately. Observations lasted an average of 4.3 years, during which time 8681 people died.
More than 2.6 thousand deaths (30%) were caused by cardiovascular diseases, 2052 (24%) by cancer, and 4019 (46%) participants died from other causes.
The “ideal” night’s rest had to meet five criteria: sleep between seven and eight hours a night; difficulty falling asleep more than twice a week; sleep problems no more than twice a week; the person does not take sleeping pills and yet feels well rested after waking up at least five days a week.
In total, the participant could score five points (each factor – plus one point).
In addition to the above, the authors took into account the socio-economic status of the respondents, the presence of bad habits (smoking and alcohol consumption) and various diseases.
The researchers say their study was the first to use a national sample and looked at sleep in ways other than duration.
The results showed that compared with people who scored from zero to one point, participants whose sleep met all five criteria had a 30% lower risk of death from all causes, 21% lower from cardiovascular diseases, and 21% lower from cancer -19%, and 40% lower – from causes not related to heart disease or cancer (accidents, infections and neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease were included in this category).
Respondents who scored a five on sleep had 4.7 years longer life expectancy for men and 2.4 years longer for women, compared to those who scored zero or one.
“Even from a young age, if people can develop healthy sleep habits by getting enough sleep and making sure to eliminate distractions, it could greatly improve their overall health in the long term,” the scientists stressed.
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