Key points from article :
Findings indicate the quantity of sleep alone is not enough to benefit; quality is key.
Men who regularly sleep well could live almost five years longer than those who do not, while women could benefit by two years.
They found that young people who had better sleep habits were less likely to die early.
It suggested that about 8% of deaths from any cause could be attributed to poor sleep patterns.
They included data from 172,321 people with an average age of 50, 54% of whom were women.
Frank Qian, co-author of the study said: “I think these findings emphasise that just getting enough hours of sleep isn’t sufficient. You really have to have restful sleep and not have much trouble falling and staying asleep.”
One limitation of the study was that sleep habits were self-reported and not objectively measured or verified.
The study was carried out at Harvard medical school and presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session.
