18 Jul Oversleeping
Recently posted on our website is an article How much sleep you really need? which highlights why 8.5 hours is the new eight hours for healthy sleep, but have you ever considered what effects too much sleep may have? There are many well reported damaging effects of sleep deprivation but can over sleeping be just as bad for our health?
The amount of sleep you need varies significantly over the course of your lifetime. It depends on your age and activity level as well as your general health and lifestyle habits. For instance, during periods of stress or illness, you may feel an increased need for sleep. But although sleep needs differ over time and from person to person, experts typically recommend that adults should sleep between seven and nine hours each night. So if you are averaging nine hours or more of sleep per night you may be at risk of oversleeping.
WebMD published an article which outlines the physical side effects of oversleeping, with an informative summary of medical problems linked to oversleeping as follows:
DIABETES: Studies have shown that sleeping too long or not enough each night can increase the risk for diabetes.
OBESITY: Sleeping too much or too little could make you weigh too much, as well. One recent study showed that people who slept for nine or 10 hours every night were 21% more likely to become obese over a six-year period than were people who slept between seven and eight hours. This association between sleep and obesity remained the same even when food intake and exercise were taken into account.
HEADACHES: For some people prone to headaches, sleeping longer than usual on a weekend or vacation can cause head pain. Researchers believe this is due to the effect oversleeping has on certain neurotransmitters in the brain, including serotonin. People who sleep too much during the day and disrupt their night time sleep may also find themselves suffering from headaches in the morning.
BACKPAIN: There was a time when doctors told people suffering from back pain to head straight to bed. But those days are long gone. You may not even need to curtail your regular exercise program when you are experiencing back pain. Check with your doctor. Doctors now realize the health benefits of maintaining a certain level of activity. And they recommend against sleeping more than usual, when possible.
DEPRESSION: Although insomnia is more commonly linked to depression than oversleeping is, roughly 15% of people with depression sleep too much. This may in turn make their depression worse. That’s because regular sleep habits are important to the recovery process.
HEART DISEASE: The Nurses’ Health Study involved nearly 72,000 women. A careful analysis of the data from that study showed that women who slept nine to 11 hours per night were 38% more likely to have coronary heart disease than women who slept eight hours. Researchers have not yet identified a reason for the connection between oversleeping and heart disease.
DEATH: Multiple studies have found that people who sleep nine or more hours a night have significantly higher death rates than people sleeping seven to eight hours a night. No specific reason for this correlation has been determined. But researchers found that depression and low socioeconomic status are also associated with longer sleep. They speculate these factors could be related to the observed inc
rease in mortality for people who sleep too much.
If you average more than eight to nine hours of sleep per night, you may benefit from seeing a doctor for a check-up. The doctor can help you determine why you oversleep.
If your oversleeping is caused by alcohol or certain prescription medications, cutting back on or eliminating the use of these substances may help. Never stop a prescribed medicine, however, unless instructed to do so by your doctor. Similarly, if your oversleeping is caused by an underlying medical condition, treating this disorder may allow you to return to normal sleep habits.
Source:
Thoracic & Sleep Group QLD – How much sleep you really need?
http://thoracicandsleep.com.au/blog/how-much-sleep-you-really-need/
WebMD – Physical Side Effects of Oversleeping
https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/physical-side-effects-oversleeping#1