New Delhi, India

A new study has helped further research on the linkages between a good night's sleep and chronic illnesses. As per the study's findings, middle-aged people who get less than five hours of sleep every night are more susceptible to multimorbidities like heart disease, cancer or diabetes.

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The research which was led by UCL researchers has been published in PLOS Medicine and to analyse the impact of sleep duration on health it included more than 7,000 men and women of the ages 50,60 and 70 years.

As per ANI, it found that there is a definite link between how long a participant slept, and their diagnoses of chronic diseases.

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People who reported getting less than five hours of sleep or less at the age of 50, were found to be at a 20 per cent higher risk of being diagnosed with a chronic disease. Compared to those who get more than seven hours of sleep, the risk for those with insufficient sleep doubles to 40 per cent over 25 years.

"Multimorbidity is on the rise in high-income countries and more than half of older adults now have at least two chronic diseases. This is proving to be a major challenge for public health, as multimorbidity is associated with high healthcare service use, hospitalisations and disability," said the study's lead author, Dr Severine Sabia.

She further adds that while with age our sleeping patterns and habits change naturally, it is still recommended to catch at least seven to eight hours of sleep every night.  

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To ensure a good night's sleep, experts recommend good sleep hygiene; this includes making sure to sleep in a quiet, dark room that is at a comfortable temperature, not using electronics around bedtime, and avoiding heavy meals before sleeping.

While researchers didn't find any linkages between sleeping for nine hours or more and multimorbidity in healthy people, longer sleep in people with a chronic illness was found to have associations with a 35 per cent increase in developing another illness.

(With inputs from agencies)

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