Ah! The weekend is here. Finally, I can sleep as much as I want! The coziness of our blanket with a soft pillow beneath our head is something we crave the whole day. Snuggling into it after a tiresome schedule seems a heavenly bliss. But, the research conducted by The University of Sydney says that sleeping for more than nine hours is a way to kill yourself at a young age. Yes, you read that right, You are at a higher risk of Dying Young if you sleep more than nine hours.
According to the study, if a person spends more than nine hours in sleeping, seven hours in sitting, and less than 150 minutes in work out then he is four times likely to die at an early age as compared to the people following a healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Melody Ding, the author of the study, said,
“When you add a lack of exercise into the mix, you get a type of “triple whammy” effect. Our study shows that we should really be taking these behaviours together as seriously as we take risk factors such as levels of drinking and unhealthy eating patterns.”
The study conducted on 231,048 Australians who were 45 and above. A questionnaire included questions regarding smoking, drinking, sleeping much and sleeping less. And to the shock, everything was considered less harmful in front of the excess sleeping habits.
Alcohol and smoking stood in the third position of causing premature deaths.
Here are Some effects of Oversleeping
- Cognitive impairment
- Depression
- Increased inflammation
- Increased pain
- Impaired fertility
- Higher risk of obesity
- Increased risk of diabetes
- Higher risk of heart disease
- Increased risk of stroke
Another study predicted that people sleeping for 9-10 hours had the worst mental health. Oversleeping generates the risk of Depressive Symptoms which can be reduced by focusing on the clock. Up next, headache becomes another evil. Leaving behind the ideal sleep of 7-9 hours, those who sleep more trigger migraines and tender tensions in the head.
Sleeping more is connected to a continuous gain in weight. Everybody is known to the fact that an over weight person is a house of diseases. From diabetes to heart risk disease, something or the other becomes a major issue in their lives. So, to protect yourself against this, a right sleeping pattern is a must follow.
In the data from the second Nurse’s Health Study, researchers found strong connections between a higher mortality rate and increased sleeping time. Moreover, it was found that more sleep was associated with asthma and multiple sclerosis.
According to Dr. Michael Grandner, following are the reasons for why people sleeping more than nine hours die young
- Sleep fragmentation- More sleep leads to the more time spent awake in bed.
- Fatigue- Sleeping longer make people more lethargic.
- Immune function- Oversleeping can influence the expression of cytokines.
- Lack of Challenge- As we become lazy we don’t challenge our bodies. No time for exercise!
- Photoperiodic abnormalities- More the time in darker room adverse the effect on circadian cycle.
- Underlying Disease- Depression, coronary disease, obstructive sleep apnea and finally failing health.
The co author of the study conducted by University of Sydney, Professor Adrian Bauman says,
“The take-home message from this research – for doctors, health planners and researchers – is that if we want to design public health programs that will reduce the massive burden and cost of lifestyle-related disease we should focus on how these risk factors work together rather than in isolation.”