A good night's sleep can add nearly five years to your life, Harvard scientists find

Getting a good night's sleep could add years to life, scientists at Harvard University have found.

Regular restful sleep may extend life by nearly five years for men, and more than two years for women, a new study suggests.

Researchers looked at data from more than 170,000 people and found that those who enjoyed good quality sleep lived the longest.

The study also showed that eight per cent of deaths from any cause may be attributed to poor sleep patterns.

People who saw the largest benefit slept for between seven and eight hours each night, had no difficulty in falling asleep, nor any trouble in staying asleep. They also did not use any sleep medication and reported feeling well-rested upon waking at least five days a week.

'Ideal sleep behaviours'

In those who reported having all five quality sleep measures, life expectancy was 4.7 years greater for men and 2.4 years greater for women compared with those who had none or only one of the five factors.

“If people have all these ideal sleep behaviours, they are more likely to live longer,” said Dr Frank Qian, a clinical fellow in medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-author of the study

“I think these findings emphasise that just getting enough hours of sleep isn’t sufficient, you really have to have restful sleep and not have much trouble falling and staying asleep.

“So, if we can improve sleep overall, and identifying sleep disorders is especially important, we may be able to prevent some of this premature mortality.”

Scientists have known for some time that not getting enough sleep increases the risk of a string of health complaints such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes, but it is the first time that the benefit of good sleep to life expectancy has been quantified.

More than a third of Britons also sleep for less than six hours a night, according to The Sleep Council, potentially putting themselves at risk of an early death.

Five-year study

For their analysis, researchers looked at data from 172,321 people who participated in the National Health Interview Survey between 2013 and 2018.

During the 4.3 year follow up period, 8,681 died. Of these deaths, 2,610 deaths (30 per cent) were from cardiovascular disease, 2,052 (24 per cent) were from cancer and 4,019 (46 per cent) were due to other causes.

Compared to individuals who had zero to one favourable sleep factors, those who had all five were 30 per cent less likely to die for any reason, 21 per cent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, 19 per cent less likely to die from cancer, and 40 per cent less likely to die of other causes.

The benefit to men was around double than for women, for reasons scientists cannot explain.

“Even from a young age, if people can develop these good sleep habits of getting enough sleep, making sure they are sleeping without too many distractions and have good sleep hygiene overall, it can greatly benefit their overall long-term health,” added Dr Qian.

“It’s important for younger people to understand that a lot of health behaviours are cumulative over time.

“Just like we like to say, it’s never too late to exercise or stop smoking, it’s also never too early. And we should be talking about and assessing sleep more often.”

Previous studies have shown that getting too little or too much sleep can negatively affect the heart.

And just one night of poor sleep is enough to trigger a spike in a brain chemical linked to Alzheimer’s disease. People with sleep apnea, a condition in which people repeatedly stop breathing at night, are at risk for developing mild cognitive impairment an average of 10 years earlier than people without the sleep disorder.

The study was presented on Thursday afternoon at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session.