Getting good sleep on a regular basis could add years to your life by protecting you from serious illness, a new study has suggested.
The research found that getting good, undisturbed sleep could help men add another five years to their life, while women may live an additional two years if their rest habits are healthy.
In addition, young people who have decent sleep habits are less likely to die early, researchers say.
Getting good sleep is known to help stave off various cardiovascular health problems among other serious illnesses.
The study's findings indicate that it isn't just about getting enough sleep, however, as it must be of high quality and without periods of wakefulness, reports The Independent.
The measuring stick for 'good sleep' was based on five factors: ideal sleep duration of seven to eight hours, difficulty falling asleep no more than twice a week, trouble staying asleep no more than twice a week, not relying on any sleep medication, and waking up feeling well-rested on at least five days of the week.
The findings also showed that approximately 8% of deaths from any cause could be attributed to poor sleep patterns.
Dr Frank Qian, an internal medicine resident physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, America, and co-author of the study, said: “We saw a clear dose-response relationship, so the more beneficial factors someone has in terms of having higher quality of sleep, they also have a stepwise lowering of all cause and cardiovascular mortality.”
Dr Qian, who is also a clinical fellow in medicine at Harvard Medical School, added: “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.”
Each variable sleep factor was assigned zero or one point for each. A maximum of five points could be achieved, which indicated the highest quality of sleep.
Dr Qian added: “If people have all these ideal sleep behaviours, they are more likely to live longer.
“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.”
The preliminary study, which was presented at an annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology on Thursday, analysed data from more than 172,000 people who answered sleep questionnaires between 2013 and 2018 as part of the National Health Interview Survey.
Participants were followed for an average of 4.3 years, during which time 8,681 died.
Of these deaths, 2,610 (30%) were as a result of cardiovascular disease, 2,052 (24%) were from cancer and 4,019 (46%) were due to other causes.
The study found those who had all five favourable sleep factors were 30% less likely to die for any reason in comparison to those who had zero to one. Those with these favourable sleep factors were also 21% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, 19% less likely to die from cancer, and 40% less likely to die of causes other than heart disease or cancer.
Dr Quian pointed out that other deaths are likely due to accidents, infections or neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease, but more research is required.
However, among men and women who reported having all five quality sleep factors, life expectancy was 4.7 years greater for men and 2.4 years greater for women in comparison to those who had none or just one of the factors.
Researchers involved in the study started their life expectancy gain measurements from age 30 but said the model can be used to predict gains at older ages too.
Dr Qian said: “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.”
