Is Lack of Sleep Linked to Higher Mortality?

Check out this answer from Consensus:

The evidence strongly suggests that both insufficient and excessive sleep are linked to higher mortality rates. This relationship is particularly pronounced for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. The optimal sleep duration for minimizing mortality risk appears to be around 7-8 hours per night. Additionally, poor sleep quality and low physical activity can further exacerbate the risks associated with abnormal sleep durations. Therefore, maintaining a balanced sleep schedule and good sleep quality is crucial for overall health and longevity.

The relationship between sleep duration and mortality has been a subject of extensive research. Numerous studies have investigated whether insufficient or excessive sleep is linked to higher mortality rates, including all-cause mortality and specific causes such as cardiovascular disease.

Key Insights

• Short Sleep Duration and Increased Mortality Risk:
  • Short sleep duration is associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality1 2 3 5 7 9 10.
  • Short sleep duration is linked to increased cardiovascular mortality3 7 10.
  • Women may be more susceptible to the risks associated with short sleep duration compared to men5.
• Long Sleep Duration and Increased Mortality Risk:
  • Long sleep duration is also associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality1 3 5 7 8 10.
  • Long sleep duration is linked to increased cardiovascular mortality3 7 10.
  • In older adults, long sleep duration is consistently associated with higher mortality, independent of frailty8.
• U-Shaped Relationship:
  • Both short and long sleep durations exhibit a U-shaped relationship with mortality, indicating that both extremes are associated with higher mortality risks compared to moderate sleep durations (around 7-8 hours)5 7 10.
• Impact of Sleep Quality:
  • Poor sleep quality, including disturbances, is associated with higher overall mortality, particularly in men6.
  • Sleep disturbances are linked to increased risks of hypertension and diabetes, which are known risk factors for mortality6.
• Combined Effects of Sleep and Other Factors:
  • The detrimental effects of poor sleep on mortality are exacerbated by low physical activity, suggesting a synergistic effect between these behaviors9.
  • Chronic sleep deprivation affects cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure, glucose metabolism, and inflammation, which can increase the risk of mortality4.

Is lack of sleep linked to higher mortality?

Dennis Auckley has answered Likely

An expert from Case Western Reserve University in Sleep Research

There are a number of observational studies from around the world that have consistently found self-reported short sleep duration to be linked to higher mortality rates. These studies do not, and cannot, establish a cause and effect relationship, but show an association.  

However, there are plausible biologic and physiologic mechanisms by which this may be a cause and effect relationship (chronic lack of sleep leading to higher mortality).  Growing data in well controlled trials have found that sleep deprivation leads to pathophysiologic changes that result in worsening metabolic and cardiovascular outcomes (i.e. diabetes risk, weight gain, hypertension) that could be mediators for higher mortality rates.

Is lack of sleep linked to higher mortality?

Taha Qazi has answered Likely

An expert from Cleveland Clinic in Gastroenterology

Lack of sleep or poor sleep is likely associated with a higher mortality. Namely poor sleep has been linked with an increased incidence and progression of CVD, diabetes, obesity, cancer an premature mortality. In a meta-analysis, among 16 studies the pooled relative risk for short sleep duration was 1.10 (05% CI -1.06-1.15). (Gallicchio L, et al. Sleep Duration and Mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J.Sleep Res, 18: 148-158 .

There are additional studies suggesting similar data.

Is lack of sleep linked to higher mortality?

Donna Ryan has answered Likely

An expert from Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Obesity, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease

Epi studies associate fewer hours of sleep with cardiovascular mortality.

Is lack of sleep linked to higher mortality?

Hassan Khan has answered Likely

An expert from Emory University in Cardiovascular Disease, Epidemiology

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25366107-short-and-long-sleep-durations-are-both-associated-with-increased-risk-of-stroke-a-meta-analysis-of-observational-studies/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30076817-sleep-duration-and-risk-of-fatal-coronary-heart-disease-sudden-cardiac-death-cancer-death-and-all-cause-mortality/

Is lack of sleep linked to higher mortality?

Matthias Friedrich has answered Near Certain

An expert from McGill University in Heart Disease

Below a certain (individual) threshold of about 6 hours, mortality is higher, as well above a threshold (about 8.5 hours)

Is lack of sleep linked to higher mortality?

Zahra Moussavi has answered Likely

An expert from University of Manitoba in Sleep Research, Alzheimer’s Disease, Biomedical Engineering

Studies on mice have shown that complete sleep deprivation kills them within a week or two. We also know that lack of sleep is strongly correlated with memory impairment. Sleep is essential for our well being. Thus, yes, I would think an extreme lack of sleep would be associated with higher mortality. Of course, I believe this is a likely case for extreme lack of sleep, say less than 50% of what a person needs (calibrated on individual basis).

Is lack of sleep linked to higher mortality?

Jason Wong has answered Likely

An expert from National Cancer Institute in Epidemiology, Molecular Biology, Genetics

The answer is “it depends” on many conditions and factors. Mortality is a complicated outcome and there are many forms of mortality related to hundreds of different cancers, cardiovascular disease, deaths of despair, metabolic disease, accidents etc. Each of these forms of mortality depend on incidence or occurrence of that certain disease. Also, each of these different mortalities have different disease mechanism/etiology. The specialty journal “Sleep” and many other medical and epidemiological journal have published many papers on this topic. In general (and I mean very, very, very general), the literature suggests a U-shaped relationship between various forms of mortality and sleep duration. For most adults in the general population, 7-9 hours seems to be beneficial, whereas below and above that range appears to associated with modestly increased risk of various forms of mortality (but not all forms). However, Circadian rhythm also has a considerable influence, perhaps ever more than sleep duration. It is also unclear if underlying, undiagnosed chronic disease (e.g., early cancers) influence sleep patterns, which may potentially bias the overall findings. The influence of sleep duration and future risk of various forms of mortality could also depend on which period of the lifecourse which one is measuring sleep duration.

Is lack of sleep linked to higher mortality?

Tetyana Kendzerska has answered Likely

An expert from University of Ottawa in Sleep Research

Despite some inconsistencies in the published literature, the accumulated evidence suggests an increased risk of all-cause mortality associated with self-reported short sleep duration (usually defined as ≤ six h/night), among both males and females, compared to individuals who report, on average, a ‘medium’ amount of sleep per night (generally defined as 7 to 8 h/night) (systematic review and meta-analyses: Gallicchio et al., 2009; Cappuccio et al., 2010; Alves da Silva et al., 2016; Yin et al., 2017). Some but not all of the excess mortality among the short sleepers may be due to differences in the characteristics of the individuals who comprise this group; for example, individuals who report shorter sleep time are more likely to be in low income and poorer overall health and to have been diagnosed with medical conditions, including depression, than individuals who report average sleep times.

The specific mechanisms underlying the association between short sleep duration and all-cause mortality are unclear. Potential mechanisms suggested are adverse endocrinologic, immunologic, and metabolic effects associated with short sleep as well as chronic inflammation.

Further, the evidence on the association between objective short sleep duration and all-cause mortality is less consistent. It is possible that the answer to the question “how many hours do you usually sleep” is influenced by several other factors such as age, sex, sleep disturbance, and psychosocial factors besides objective sleep duration (Vgontzas et al., 2010).