Lack of sleep tends to 'early grave'

UK & Italian researchers 've warned that getting less than six hours sleep a night can lead to an early grave.

• They said people regularly having this little sleep were 12% more likely to die over 25 years or less than those who got an "ideal" six to eight hours.
• They also found an association between sleeping for more than nine hours & early death, although that much sleep may merely be a marker of ill health.

Sleep journal reports the findings, based on 1.5m people in 16 studies.
The study looked at the relationship between sleep & mortality by reviewing earlier studies from the UK, US & European & East Asian countries.

Premature death from all causes was linked to getting either too little or too much sleep outside of the "ideal" six to eight hours per night.

But while a lack of sleep may be a direct cause of ill-health, ultimately leading to an earlier death, too much sleep may merely be a marker of ill health already, the UK & Italian researchers believe.