Want to Live Longer? These 5 Sleep Habits Can Do It, Scientists Say

According to a Harvard University study, if middle-aged persons follow five sleep habits, their chance of early mortality might be decreased by 30%. According to the team speaker, this is one of the most complete sleep studies they have ever undertaken. One. The findings were presented at the American College of Cardiology-World Society of Cardiology meeting in early March.

These are the five sleep habits:

1. Get seven to eight hours of sleep per day.

2. Having difficulties sleeping no more than twice a week.

3. Sleep intermittently no more than twice a week.

4. Avoid using any sleeping medicines.

5. Get up at least five days a week feeling rested.

Between 2013 and 2018, Harvard University researchers collected data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Center for Health Statistics on over 170,000 people with an average age of 50 from the annual National Health Interview Survey, which includes sleep problems.

The study discovered that persons who matched all five of the above sleep patterns had a 30% decreased likelihood of dying from any cause when compared to those who did not meet all five. Individuals who sleep well had a 21% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, a 19% lower risk of dying from cancer, and a 19% lower risk of dying from other causes (accidents, infections, dementia, and neurological illnesses such as Parkinson's). The likelihood is also cut in half.

The study also found that achieving the five sleep habits had a substantially greater impact on men than women, extending life expectancy by 4.7 years for males and 2.4 years for women, but further research is needed to establish why these gender differences exist. Sleep is critical for brain and organ repair, and the absence of or poor quality sleep over time raises the risk of heart disease and cancer, according to the study.

How to sleep only 4 hours a night and still have more energy

What would you do if you had an extra 60 days per year? Just ask Abby Ross, a Miami-based psychologist who is a "short sleeper." She only needs 4 hours of sleep per night, and while the rest of the world is sleeping, she has plenty of free time.

"It's fantastic to have so much time each day — it's like I have two lives," she remarked.

Short sleepers, like Rose, are never tired and never oversleep. They get up early, usually around four or five a.m., eager to begin the day. Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom may have been one of them; she famously stated that she only needed four hours of sleep per night, whereas Mariah Carey claimed 15.

What causes certain people to sleep so well? And what motivates others to devote a half-day to weekly appointments? Can we alter our sleeping habits to become more productive?

In 2009, a woman came to the University of California, San Francisco, and complained to Professor Fu Lihui about waking up too early every day. Fu initially assumed the woman was an extreme case of a "lark-type" sleep pattern – a person who typically gets up and goes to bed early. The woman, on the other hand, claimed she didn't fall asleep until midnight every day but was fully awake by 4 a.m. She also stated that numerous of her family members were in the same condition. What would you do if you could?

Fu and her colleagues discovered that the short sleepers had a modest mutation in the DEC2 gene that was missing in normal sleepers and 250 others after comparing the genomes of the woman's different family relatives. An unrelated volunteer likewise lacked the mutation.

When the researchers developed the same genetic mutation in mice, the rodents slept less but did equally well on the same physical and cognitive activities as normal mice.

Sleep deprivation has a significant impact on health, quality of life, and life expectancy, and can lead to depression, weight gain, and an increased risk of stroke and diabetes. "Sleep is incredibly important, and getting enough sleep can help avoid various diseases, including dementia," Fu added. "Forcing someone to sleep only 2 hours per day will drastically impair their cognitive abilities practically instantly."

Nevertheless, why sleep is so vital has remained a mystery. While there isn't much "downtime" during the day, the scientific community largely agrees that the brain requires sleep for some of its daily cleansing and upkeep. The brain can repair cell damage, eliminate toxins accumulated during the day, and enhance the sluggish energy supply when we sleep.

 

"People with DEC2 mutations can complete the same cleanup in a shorter time -- their sleep efficiency is higher than that of ordinary people." Fu said, "But how can we have this ability? The key issue."

Fu Huihui claims that after the DEC2 mutation was discovered, many people have told her that they only sleep a few hours a day. Nonetheless, the majority of people suffer from sleeplessness. "We didn't focus on those who slept less because they had sleep problems, but on people who slept less but felt refreshed."

Fu Lihui discovered that the short sleepers he observed were often happy people. "What's interesting about them is that they're both vibrant and cheery," she says. People generally want to enjoy life to the fullest, although I'm not sure if this is related to their genetic abnormality. how it's related."

That appears to be the situation with Ross. "When I wake up, I always feel rejuvenated," she stated. For as long as she can remember, she has only slept four or five hours every day.

"It's a wonderful time around 5 a.m.." It's quiet and peaceful and you can do a lot of things. I wish more shops were open around that time, but I can shop online, or read online -- Living in this day and age, I have so much content to watch! Or I can go out and work out before everyone else wakes up and chat with people in other time zones."
She finished college in two and a half years because of her short sleeping habit, giving her lots of time to master new talents. Rose, for example, chose to go for a morning run around the block when her first kid was just three weeks old. That took roughly ten minutes. She ran again the next day, this time for a slightly larger distance. She rapidly extended her running time, finally completing 37 marathons (an average of one per month) over three years, as well as a few ultramarathons. "I can start exercising before anyone else gets up," she explains, "without causing any other things to be delayed."

Rose recalls spending early mornings with her father, who was also a light sleeper when she was a child. "Waking up early gives us so much precious time together," she explained. Her husband mistook her for dead if she overslept (which she claimed happened only a few times). "I don't sleep in because it's quite painful for me," she explained. make a diversion Fu then sequenced the genomes of six more families whose members fit the description of short sleepers. While scientists are only now beginning to comprehend the genetic changes that cause this gift, she believes it may one day be feasible to confer the capacity on others.

Before that, is there any way for ordinary people to boost their sleep efficiency at night? According to Neil Stanley, an independent sleep specialist, "the single most effective approach to enhance sleep efficiency is to get up at the same time every morning."

When your body becomes accustomed to this routine, it will strive to be as efficient as possible when it needs sleep, according to Stanley. "Research reveals that your body prepares for waking up an hour and a half before you do. The body seeks consistency. Thus, if you're continually changing your sleep habits, your body won't know when it's time to sleep." Prepare yourself."

According to Stanley, consciously ignoring societal perceptions about sleep might also benefit. Thatcher and other top executives who sleep very little served as role models. The quantity of sleep you get is genetically fixed, just like your height and shoe size. Some people are born with less sleep, while others require eleven or two hours of sleep to recover."

Many people with sleep problems don't have any problems, according to Stanley, since they have unrealistic expectations about how much sleep they will obtain. "We could greatly improve our quality of life if we could all figure out which sleep type we are and change our routines accordingly," he said.