Sleep Deprivation Could Equal Shortened Life Span

Researchers in the U.K. announced this week the alarming findings of a new study on sleep and life span.  The story was covered by international newswire AFP, and posted on numerous news sites around the web.  The findings were also published in the journal Sleep.  Researchers at Britain’s University of Warwick say according to their studies, individuals who get less than six hours of sleep per night face and increased risk of dying early.

“If you sleep little, you can develop diabetes, obesity, hypertension and high cholesterol,” Francesco Cappuccio, who led research on the subject at Britain’s University of Warwick, told AFP.

The study, conducted with the Federico II University in Naples, Italy, aggregated decade-long studies from around the world involving more than 1.3 million people and found “unequivocal evidence of the direct link” between lack of sleep and premature death.

“We think that the relation between little sleep and illness is due to a series of hormonal and metabolical mechanisms,” Cappuccio said.

Cappucio says he believes lack of sleep is a serious social issue.

Read the entire article on Yahoo News.