Get some sleep

I share something with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and no, it’s got nothing to do with wearing blue dresses and carrying a handbag. Nor has it to do with our shared penchant for petite dark-haired women with blue eyes (actually that one’s more me than Mrs T).

What we share is an unhealthy sleeping habit. I always thought it was a useful habit, but new research shows that it’s a bad habit. You see, both of us get by on around four hours sleep per night. Great if you’re busy running a country (or if you’re involved in the launch of a new website for Irish men).

Not great, however, if you want to live long and prosper. It turns out that getting less than six hours a night can have a seriously detrimental effect on your life expectancy.

Modern society has seen a gradual reduction in the average amount of sleep people take.

British and Italian researchers linked to the UK’s University of Warwick’s Sleep, Health and Society Programme looked at 1.5 million people who'd taken part in 16 different studies. After a few all-nighters to go through the figures, they discovered that getting less than six hours per night were 12% more likely to die over a 25-year period than those who got the ideal six to eight hours.

According to Professor Francesco Cappuccio who headed the University of Warwick’s study, and who incidentally has a surname that matches a drink that keeps you awake: “Modern society has seen a gradual reduction in the average amount of sleep people take, and this pattern is more common among full-time workers, suggesting that it may be due to societal pressures for longer working hours [I wonder if the boss is reading this...] and more shift work.”

Some of the increased risk of mortality may not be down to lack of sleep per se, but instead it may be the unfortunate side effect of people driving or using machinery while tired – both big no-nos.

Left to die young

As an aside, I’m also left-handed, and according to some other research a few years back us lefties live a good few years less than those of you for whom the world is designed. (Don’t get me started on how much the world is geared to making life easy for the majority and hard for those of us who are part of the more talented, more creative left-handed minority...). Then there’s the small matter of journalists having a well below average chance of reaching retirement age – something to do with the fact that living on a diet of beer and pies is not exactly good for you.

Clearly I’m screwed. I might as well just knock on the door of the local funeral directors and climb into my box now.  I would, if only I didn’t have to work late.

As for you: make sure you get some shut eye. Try to go to bed at a regular time. Don’t watch TV in bed, make your bedroom a refuge from anything to do with work. Have a milky drink before heading off to get some zzzz (there’s a chemical in milk that makes you drowsy).  Have regular sex (not sure if that’s been proven to help, but it’s worth a try).

A quick word of caution, don’t get too much sleep. More than nine hours a night is also bad for your longevity as it is likely to indicate an underlying health problem.

It’s enough to make you lose sleep. That’s if you can get any in the first place, of course.

Nick Bradshaw