Share on PinterestResearchers have found a link between sleep quality and disease risk with many chronic conditions. Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images
- Getting enough quality sleep every night is important for good health, but the extent it affects overall health is still being researched.
- A new study has linked 172 different diseases, including dementia, diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease to poor sleep patterns.
- Of those diseases, 92 of them had over 20% of their risk correlated with poor sleep behavior.
Getting enough quality sleep every night is important for good health. However, some people may still be unclear about what “quality sleep” entails and what impact sleep really has on their health.
“[Until] now we have not completely understood how sleep builds our health,” Qing Chen, PhD, associate professor at the Institute of Toxicology in the College of Preventive Medicine at the Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) in China, told Medical News Today.
“Maybe we only know that sleep deprivation is harmful. No scientist has 100% confidence to tell us when we should sleep or when we should not sleep, [or] whether there are additional sleep tips that are important for health,“ said Chen. “This is not enough to make a really healthy sleep schedule.”
Chen is the co-lead author of a study recently published in the journal Health Data Science that has linked 172 different diseases to poor sleep patterns. Of those diseases, 92 had over 20% of the risk correlated with poor sleep behavior.
More than 20% of risk for 92 diseases linked to poor sleep
For this study, researchers analyzed medical data from more than 88,000 adults in the UK Biobank database to measure both their sleep traits and disease diagnoses.
After an average 7-year follow-up, researchers associated 172 diseases with poor sleep patterns, including irregular bedtimes and off-circadian rhythms.
Of these, the risk for 42 diseases was at least doubled, including age-related physical debility, gangrene, fibrosis, and cirrhosis of the liver.
Chen and his team also discovered that 92 of the 172 diseases had more than 20% of their risk traceable to poor sleep, including dementia, primary hypertension, Parkinson’s disease, type 2 diabetes, and acute kidney failure.
“Sleep regularity (rhythm) should be taken into consideration, or a number of diseases may be induced, even if sleep duration is adequate,” Chen said. “This is because sleep rhythm and sleep duration may be in charge of different aspects of our health.”
“We want to understand why disruption of sleep rhythm induces diseases, and how can we prevent or cure the diseases induced by sleep rhythm disruption,” he commented, when asked about the next steps for this research.
Does lack of sleep cause these diseases?
MNT spoke with Matthew Scharf, MD, PhD, regional sleep medicine director at Hackensack Meridian Health, and associate professor at Hackensack Meridian Medical School in New Jersey, about this study.
Scharf, who was not involved in the research, commented that this study builds on mounting evidence showing that insufficient or poor sleep can negatively impact health.
“Strengths of the study include use of objective data and a very large sample size,” he explained. “However, it shows many associations but does not necessarily show causation.”
“Sleep has emerged as an important modifiable behavior to improve health and longevity,” Scharf continued. “The goal is to find out how sleep is linked with various diseases in order to have targeted interventions. For example, some groups may benefit from having a longer sleep duration. Others may benefit from having a more regular sleep schedule.”
For next steps in this research, Scharf said the key piece would be to see if targeted interventions improve outcomes in each patient population.
“For example, in patients with Parkinson’s disease, would a program that promoted a regular bedtime routine improve Parkinson’s disease-related symptoms or quality of life metrics?” he asked.
Sleep regularity matters more than sleep duration
Daniel Truong, MD, a neurologist and medical director of the Truong Neuroscience Institute at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA and editor in chief of the Journal of Clinical Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, who was not involved in the recent study, told MNT that his reaction to this study’s findings was one of surprising clarity: Sleep regularity matters more than sleep duration in explaining disease risk.
What does ‘good sleep’ mean?
“I was struck by how decisive rhythm, and regularity came across in this analysis — almost redefining what ‘good sleep’ means. It suggests that behavioral interventions focused on consistency and timing may offer health benefits beyond just aiming for a fixed number of hours.”
— Daniel Truong, MD
“It is crucial for researchers to continue investigating how sleep affects overall health because sleep is a foundational biological process that influences nearly every organ system — and yet it remains one of the most underappreciated and misunderstood contributors to disease risk and health maintenance,” Truong continued.
“This recent study underscores why this research must continue. Unlike genetic predispositions or aging, sleep habits can be changed. Sleep affects multiple biological systems such as [the] immune system, endocrine, cardiovascular, [and] neurological problems,” he said.
Inadequate sleep is rarely an isolated issue
Katie S. McCullar, PhD, a fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, told MNT that this research reinforces the idea that sleep is not just a passive state but a vital process that supports nearly every aspect of health, and adds to a growing body of research that demonstrates that healthy sleep is one of the foundational determinants of health.
McCullar, who was likewise not involved in the study, explained that:
“Furthermore, this work highlights what is often observed in a clinical setting: That inadequate sleep is rarely an isolated issue, but rather an indicator or exacerbating factor in a wide range of chronic conditions.”
“It is encouraging to see more scientific evidence linking sleep quality and duration to physical, mental, and emotional well-being. The data provide empirical support for the need to integrate sleep health more thoroughly into preventive and therapeutic care models,” she added.
“Sleep has historically been underemphasized in both clinical training and public health initiatives,” she continued. “Continued research helps us understand the mechanisms behind these connections, allowing us to develop more effective and targeted interventions to prevent and treat diseases. Further, the integration of sleep health into broader frameworks of lifestyle medicine and health equity research is especially timely and warranted.”
Tips for improving sleep for better overall health
If you are one of the many adults experiencing sleep issues, you’re not alone. Previous research shows that about 10% of people around the world live with insomnia, and about 20% experience occasional insomnia symptoms.
For those looking to improve their nightly sleep, Jimmy Johannes, MD, a pulmonologist and critical care medicine specialist at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach, CA, suggested setting a regular bedtime and keeping the sleep environment cool, dark, and quiet.
“Synchronizing with the day-night cycle by exposing yourself to some sunlight in the daytime and keeping lighting dim near bedtime can help prepare the brain for sleep at night,” Johannes continued.
“Talk to your doctor about persistent difficulty falling asleep, frequent nighttime awakenings, loud snoring or gasping during sleep, waking up tired in the morning, and/or excessive daytime fatigue or sleepiness. These issues may reflect a condition affecting sleep, such as sleep apnea or a mood disorder,” he advised.
