Family schedules are hectic, and take a lot of mental energy to keep on top of.
By the end of the day it’s hard to think about anything, but your soft, comfy pillow and welcoming bed.
Many Americans fill their days with so many obligations that by the time night rolls around you are scrambling to do regular household chores, leaving little room for adequate sleep.
Sometimes, things go topsy-turvy, and over-exhaustion causes a different night time fumble.
It is well known that getting too little sleep is detrimental to your health, but a new study shows that getting too much sleep is also causing concerns.
The Guardian reported:
“Sleeping longer than the recommended seven or eight hours a night has been linked with a higher risk of premature death, according to new research.”
Participants for the new research are in the millions, and across 74 individual studies.
The results are shocking, finding that people who get more than 10 hours sleep are “30% more likely to die prematurely than those who slept for 8”, according to The Guardian.
You may be wondering how one has enough time to sleep 10 hours a night in this day and age.
It can be easier than you think with certain night routines for you or your children.
When your entire day is filled with constant stimulation, not only your body needs a break, but so does your mind.
As you are singing your toddler to sleep in a cool, dark room, it is easier than you think for you to start shutting down as well.
You may tell yourself that you are just going to rest your eyes, or that you just need a minute before packing tomorrow’s school lunches, when “Bam” you are out for the night, pulling a 10 hour night just like the kids.
Scary enough, you don’t even have to be sleeping the 10 hours in bed to receive health complications.
Studies have also found that just being in bed longer than 10 hours was linked to a 56% increased risk of death from stroke, and a 49% increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
So, for all of us who spend time in bed before and after sleeping, checking our email, reading a book, or watching television, we now have a lot to reconsider.
Look for ways to shorten the idle time in bed that is not spent sleeping. Check your emails during commercials, while watching your evening show on a Pilates ball.
And limit your reading time to 30 minutes, instead of the 2 hours you did the night before when you had to find out what happened to the heroine.
The Journal of the American Heart Association warns us of another overnight danger, poor sleep quality.
Not sleeping soundly increases your odds of coronary heart disease by 44%. Research suggests in the journal that a bumpy night could be “a marker of elevated cardiovascular risk.”
All the risk factors associated with sleep disturbances and amount of sleep you cash in on, begs the question of why more doctors aren’t investigating this area of your life.
It should be routine during regular checkups, especially if you have symptoms that are linked to sleep problems.
As reported in The Guardian, lead researcher at Keele University’s Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine, Dr. Chun Shing Kwok, expounds on all the reasons sleep should be an area of interest during every patient consultation:
“There are cultural, social, psychological, behavioural, pathophysiological and environmental influences on our sleep such as the need to care for children or family members, irregular working shift patterns, physical or mental illness, and the 24-hour availability of commodities in modern society.”
There were some limitations in the study, such as the information being from participant’s self-report and mental illness not being taken into consideration.
However, the massive study still shows statistics worth considering when implementing a healthy lifestyle.
Empirical evidence has proven that 7-8 hours a night sleep is optimal for your mind and body.
Aiming for this amount, with little extra time spent lounging in the bed for any reason, will increase your quality of life.
Despite the overwhelming urge you may feel to tuck it in early and sleep until the kids wake you, resist, and remember that you will have a better day with a solid night of just enough sleep.
Please let us know in the comments section if you have ever experienced any negative effects from sleeping too long.