While it’s been reported over and over that too little sleep is bad for your health, researchers in South Korea say they’ve found that too much sleep can cause at least one of the same problems.
The study’s lead author, a scientist from the Center for Cohort Studies at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in Seoul, says too much or too little sleep, or even poor sleep, is likely to cause stiffened arteries and calcium deposits on the walls of major arteries in the body.
Earlier studies have linked poor sleep to bad heart health, but this research goes a step further by looking for precursors of heart disease in people who appear healthy. The study involved more than 47,000 young and middle-aged adults who completed a sleep questionnaire and had advanced tests to measure arterial stiffness and detect early artery lesions caused by calcium deposits.
The research did find that there’s the sweet spot for the “right” amount of sleep is seven hours. People who got more or less sleep tended to have increased signs of potential future heart problems.
The scientists said that while there does appear to be a link between poor or excessive sleep and heart problems, they stopped short of saying there is a direct cause-and-effect relationship. They say more research is needed.
Previous:
With Nature Comes Better Sleep for Some
Copyright 2022 Carpenter Co. All Rights Reserved.
Created by Carpenter Co.
