New Study Says Too Much Sleep Might Be Bad For Your Health

We are not sure of how Margaret Thatcher’s “Sleep is for the weak” became “Sleep Is for Wimps”. What we are certain of is that it is quite a common saying.

Now, everyone knows that you need to get “quality” sleep to feel refreshed, get your brain and body working at an optimum level. And if you are curious, each hour you wake up at night means that your body is trying to tell you something. Read about it here.

Broken time concept. Old dusty pocket clock with broken glass. Shallow depth of field. Photo: Blue tinted

A new research has revealed that sleeping a lot might not be a good idea. According to the researchers in the Washington University Sleep Medicine Centre in the U.S., the research found that too much sleep may be bad for older adults.

Given a 5-year-period and using a sample of 100 adults, with an average age of 75, several tests were carried out, including repeated memory tests. The research found that those getting over 4.5 to 6.5 hours of EEG-measured sleep each night had a decline in brainpower. Note that 4.5 to 6.5 hours of EEG-measured sleep is 5.5 and 7.5 hours of self-reported sleep. Those who slept more or less than this number were at the risk of developing heart disease and dying, previous research in the Journal of the American Heart Association in 2017 reported.

Interestingly, the researchers from Washington University Sleep Medicine Centre also mentioned that older adults spending more time in bed can be counterproductive.