People who do not get enough sleep are more than twice as likely to die of heart disease, according to a large British study released yesterday.
Although the reasons are unclear, researchers said lack of sleep appeared to be linked to increased blood pressure, which is known to raise the risk of heart attacks and stroke.
A 17-year analysis of 10,000 government workers showed those who cut their sleep from seven hours a night to five or less faced a 1.7-fold increased risk of death from all causes and more than double the risk of cardiovascular death.
The findings highlight a danger in busy modern lifestyles, Francesco Cappuccio, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Warwick's medical school, told the annual conference of the British Sleep Society in Cambridge.
"A third of the population of the UK and over 40 percent in the US regularly sleep less than five hours a night, so it is not a trivial problem," he told reporters.
"The current pressures in society to cut out sleep, in order to squeeze in more work, may not be a good idea - particularly if you go below five hours."
Previous research has highlighted the potential health risks of shift work and disrupted sleep. But the study by Cappuccio and his colleagues, which was supported by British government and US funding, is the first to link duration of sleep and mortality rates.
The study looked at sleep patterns of participants aged 35-55 at two points in their lives - 1985-88 and 1992-93 - and then tracked their mortality rates until 2004.
The results were adjusted to take account of other possible risk factors such as initial age, sex, smoking and alcohol consumption, body mass index, blood pressure and cholesterol.
The correlation with cardiovascular risk in those who slept less in the 1990s than in the 1980s was clear but, curiously, there was also a higher mortality rate in people who increased their sleep to more than nine hours.
In this case, however, there was no cardiovascular link and Cappuccio said it was possible that longer sleeping could be related to other health problems such as depression or cancer-related fatigue.
"In terms of prevention, our findings indicate that consistently sleeping around seven hours per night is optimal for health," he said.
(China Daily 09/25/2007 page 1)
Questions:
1. The study says lack of sleep may be linked with what health condition?
2. What percentage of Americans are estimated to sleep less than five hours a night?
3. What conditions could be linked with people who overslept?
4. According to the study, what is the optimum amount of time needed for sleep?
Answers:
1. Increased blood pressure, known to raise the risk of heart attack and stroke.
2. Over 40%.
3. Depression or cancer-related fatigue.
4. Around 7 hours per night.
（英語點津 Linda 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from Auckland, New Zealand. Marc has had an eclectic career in the media/arts, most recently working as a radio journalist for NewstalkZB, New Zealand’s leading news radio network, as a feature writer for Travel Inc, New Nutrition Business (UK) and contributor for Mana Magazine and the Sunday Star Times. Marc is also a passionate arts educator and is involved in various media/theatre projects in his native New Zealand and Singapore where he is currently based. Marc joins the China Daily with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
