"Perfect" sleep reduces the risk of premature death by more than 30%

 In men with "ideal" sleep, life expectancy was almost five years longer, and in women - by 2.4 years.

Scientists from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and Harvard Medical School (USA) found that quality sleep not only plays a role in maintaining general 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 takes place from March 4 to 6 in New Orleans.

The authors of the work studied the data of 172,321 people who participated in the survey on the state of health among US residents in 2013-2018, 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.

Because the scientists had data from the National Death Index of the United States up to the end of 2019, they were able to examine the relationship between all-cause mortality and factors affecting sleep both together and separately. Observations lasted an average of 4.3 years, during which time 8,681 people died. More than 2,600 deaths (30%) were caused by cardiovascular diseases, 2,052 (24%) by cancer, and another 4,019 (46%) participants died of other causes.

An "ideal" night's rest had to meet five criteria: the duration of sleep from seven to eight hours a day; difficulty falling asleep no more than twice a week; sleep problems no more than twice a week; a person does not take sleeping pills and at the same time 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 respondents, the presence of harmful habits (smoking and alcohol consumption) and various diseases. According to the scientists, their study was the first in which a national sample was involved, and sleep was studied not only in the context of duration.

The results showed that compared to people who scored between zero and one, participants whose sleep met all five criteria had a 30% lower risk of death from all causes, a 21% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, from cancer - 19% and 40% lower from causes not related to heart disease or oncology (this category includes accidents, infections and neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Parkinson's disease).

Respondents who scored a sleep score of five had a life expectancy of 4.7 years longer for men and 2.4 years longer for women than those who scored zero or one.

"If people from a young age develop good habits for good sleep, getting enough sleep and making sure to eliminate distractions, this can significantly improve their overall health in the long run," the scientists emphasized.