Mr. Liu's recent performance in the workplace seems to be a bit inadequate, and he always feels physically exhausted, and it is difficult to resist the invasion of sleepiness during the day.
He began to suspect that he was due to long-term late nights and high-intensity work pressure, and in order to improve his health, Mr. Liu decided to adjust his schedule and start going to bed early.
However, to his surprise, even though he gave up the habit of staying up late and guaranteed more than 8 hours of sleep a day, his mental state was still sluggish during the day.
Faced with this situation, Mr. Liu's wife put forward a view that subverts common sense: "You don't need to go to bed early, the key is the quality of sleep." And, I've heard that the earlier you sleep, the sooner you die!"
Mr. Liu laughed dumbly when he heard this, thinking that such remarks were too ridiculous. In Mr. Liu's view, his wife's views completely subvert people's common sense.
He thinks that if the wife's logic is followed, then those who go to bed early are not wasting their time in vain, but is this anti-common sense rumor really true?
01
The sooner you sleep, the sooner you die?
A study published in the authoritative journal Sleep Medicine has attracted widespread attention. The study conducted an in-depth 9.2-year study of more than 112,000 subjects in 21 countries around the world.
The researchers divided the subjects into three groups based on their schedules: early bedtime (falling asleep between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.), normal (falling asleep between 10 p.m. and 12 p.m.), and sleeping late (falling asleep after 12 p.m.).
The results of the study showed that both the early and late sleep groups had a higher risk of death and major cardiovascular events than the normal group. Among them, the risk of death increased by 29% in the early bedtime group and 11% in the late sleep group.
This finding seems to overturn our conventional wisdom about sleep: are people who go to bed early really not as healthy as people who go to bed late?
This study is only an epidemiological study, and it can only reveal some kind of correlation and not directly prove causation. In addition, there are some limitations to the study itself.
For example, the study covered a wide geographical area, including both developed and underdeveloped countries. In the early bedtime group, 92.6% of participants from African countries were present, while most of the participants in the normal group were developed countries.
This regional difference may lead to differences in the subject's economy, medical level, living habits, etc., which may affect their lifespan and physical health.
Therefore, we cannot conclude from this study alone that there is a clear causal relationship between early bedtime and an increased risk of death. More research is needed to provide evidence to better understand the relationship between early bedtime and health.
A study published in the European Heart Journal by a team of researchers from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom conducted an in-depth study of more than 100,000 participants with an average age of about 61 years after 5.7 years of follow-up.
The results of the study point us in the right direction: between 22 and 23 o'clock in the evening, it is the ideal time to go to sleep. Falling asleep at this time can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. If you don't go to bed until 12 o'clock, the risk of disease increases.
02
Best choice for sleep duration: 7 hours
A team of researchers from the Japan Cancer Center has released a study in Asian populations that explores in detail the relationship between sleep duration and longevity. The research results have been published in JAMA Network Open, a sub-journal of the Journal of the American Medical Association, and have attracted wide attention.
The study carefully screened more than 320,000 volunteers from China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore and followed them for nearly 14 years.
The researchers divided the volunteers into six groups based on sleep duration, including less than 5 hours, 6 hours, 7 hours, 8 hours, 9 hours and more than 10 hours.
Through an in-depth analysis, they found that the risk of all-cause mortality was lowest in the male group with six hours of sleep per day, while the lowest risk of all-cause mortality was among the female group, with seven hours of sleep per day.
It is important to note that both men and women have the highest risk of all-cause mortality with more than 10 hours of sleep compared with 7 hours of sleep per day.
For men, in addition to the risk of all-cause mortality, sleep duration was significantly associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease.
In addition, the study considered a variety of risk factors and concluded that 7 hours of sleep per day is the best for longevity. Whether it's too much or too little, it's not good for your health.
03
Everyone has been deceived by the "8-hour sleep theory?What is the best sleep duration after the age of 50?
For a long time, the theory of 8 hours of sleep has been widely spread among the general public, as if it has become an unshakable "common sense". However, with the in-depth research and updated discoveries of sleep science, this traditional idea is gradually being challenged and overturned.
In fact, everyone's sleep needs are not set in stone, and not everyone has to follow the 8-hour sleep standard strictly. In fact, sleep needs vary by age group.
For teenagers (14-17 years old), their bodies and brains are in a stage of rapid development, so the average healthy sleep duration will be slightly longer, around 8-10 hours. Adequate sleep at this stage is essential for their ability to grow and learn.
Entering the youth stage (18-25 years old), although the rate of physical development has slowed down, young people still need enough sleep to support their daily activities and learning tasks.
Therefore, the average sleep duration for a healthy person is 7-9 hours. Sleep at this stage not only helps to restore physical strength, but also improves concentration and memory.
For adults (26-64 years old), their sleep needs are relatively stable, with a healthy average sleep duration of 7-9 hours.
However, as adults get older, their sleep quality may be affected by various factors, such as work pressure, life rhythm, etc., so they need to pay more attention to the optimization of the sleep environment and the improvement of sleep quality.
In the old age (over 65 years old), the elderly sleep is relatively short, with a healthy average of 7-8 hours of sleep. As older adults age, their sleep structure also changes, and they may experience more nocturnal awakenings and light sleep phases. Therefore, creating a quiet, comfortable sleeping environment for the elderly can help them get better sleep quality.