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A new study has identified four different sleep patterns that not only characterize how most people sleep, but also provide clues about long-term health.
A research team including experts from Pennsylvania State University (PSU) identified different sleep health phenotypes and then examined how they change over time and how they relate to chronic disease risk. The results are published in the journal “Psychosomatic Medicine”.
Sleep disorders are harmful to health
Poor sleep has been linked to long-term chronic health problems. So it’s important to understand how sleep patterns can affect later health risks.
The team examined this in a total of 3,683 adults who were involved in the so-called “Midlife in the United States Study”. The participants provided information about their sleep health, including the regularity and duration of sleep, in two surveys ten years apart. The participants also reported existing chronic illnesses.
In addition, the researchers took into account various variables that could have an influence on the result, such as age, number of children, smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity.
What four sleep types have been identified?
In general, most participants could be assigned to one of four sleep types, explains the team. One, for example, were good sleepers who were characterized by optimal sleep behavior across all data points.
There were also so-called weekend catch-ups who had irregular sleep, in particular a short average sleep duration, but slept longer on weekends or on days off, the researchers report.
Another category was insomnia sleepers. According to the experts, these people suffered from sleep problems that were associated with clinical symptoms of insomnia such as short sleep duration, severe tiredness during the day and long periods of time falling asleep.
The final category of sleep patterns identified was the so-called nappers. These people usually sleep well, but also take frequent naps during the day, the experts report.
Many exhibit unhealthy sleeping habits
The team found that more than half of the participants were so-called insomnia sleepers or nappers – both of which have suboptimal sleep patterns.
According to the researchers, people with less education and the unemployed were significantly more likely to be insomnia sleepers, and older people or pensioners were more likely to be nappers.
In addition, there were only rare changes in sleep behavior over the course of ten years – especially in people who were in the sleep categories of nappers or insomnia sleepers, the researchers report.
“These results may suggest that it is very difficult to change our sleep habits because sleep health is embedded in our entire lifestyle. It could also indicate that people still don’t know how important their sleep is and how to behave health-consciously,” explains study author Professor Soomi Lee in a press release.
Risk of illness due to poor sleep
The researchers also found a connection between poor sleep and a significantly higher risk of developing chronic diseases.
According to the research team, the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression and frailty was increased by 72 to 188 percent among insomniac sleepers. Nappers were found to have a significantly increased risk of diabetes, cancer and frailty.
“We need to make more efforts to educate the public about healthy sleep. There are sleep hygiene behaviors that people can use to improve their sleep, such as not using cell phones in bed, exercising regularly, and avoiding caffeine in the late afternoon,” concludes Lee.
Promote healthy sleep
According to the researchers, the results suggest that programs and interventions to promote healthy sleep and healthy sleep habits are necessary. Such programs should also take into account the risk of chronic diseases and socioeconomic disadvantage, the experts add.
Sleep is extremely important for overall health and optimizing sleep habits can bring many benefits, from improving social relationships and work performance to promoting long-term healthy behaviors and healthy aging. (as)