Rise and Shine Already

In an overactive world where there never seems to be enough time in a day to get everything we want done, we often hear of the negative effects that can result from our working constantly, void of sleep. As a result of this we rarely hear of what health effects can result when we don’t have much to do and have plenty of time to sleep. But believe it or not, there are some side effects – and serious ones at that.

According to new research published in the medical journal Stroke, women who slept for more than the recommended eight hours of sleep increased their risk of stroke dramatically – by as much as 70 percent in fact when compared to those women who got an average of seven hours of sleep a night!

The study included a large sample of women – approximately 93,200 – all of whom were in their middle to late ages of life (between 50 and 79 years old). The study followed the group of women, their sleeping patterns and how their health fared for seven and a half years. In the course of the study, a very small percentage of the women suffered a stroke (about one percent), but that small percentage carried with it a significant finding. When the researchers analyzed how much the women slept on average per night, those who slept an average of nine hours per night were at a 70 percent increased risk of stroke! There were also increased risks of stroke for too little sleep (six hours) and the recommended eight hours – 14 percent and 24 percent, respectively – but the incredibly high percentage increase in stroke risk among those who slept nine hours or more makes this finding truly alarming.

As with many studies, there are a number of caveats in this study that leave the results somewhat lacking in terms of reliability. For instance, the researchers said that there were more instances of women having a lack of sleep than having too much sleep, and that the negative health effects associated with a lack of sleep are likely more pronounced than having too much sleep. Further, as lead researcher Dr. Jiu-Chiuan Chen noted, the data should not lead people to believe that if women cut back on their sleep, they’ll then lower their risk for stroke. In short, much more research needs to be done before anything conclusive can be culled from this study.

At the very least, this study should leave at least some of us wondering if we’re getting too much sleep. For the overwhelming majority of us, though, sleep is a precious commodity that rarely is experienced eight hours per night. The recommended eight hours of sleep per night still applies as the ideal amount of time the body needs to recover from the day’s grind, particularly for those who hope to get the most out of their workouts. The muscles need time to recover, and the best, most efficient way to recover from a workout session is while you’re sleeping at night. For those of us who use our brains during the day – which includes all of us, despite the dunderheads you may encounter from time to time – that eighth hour is crucial for concentration, problem solving and memory.

But to use an old cliché, too much of anything is a bad thing. And while this study’s findings are still somewhat lacking, I think we’d all agree that that cliché applies to sleep as well.