Scientists have found exactly how many hours to sleep as they get older

Whether you are one of those who love to sleep or those who feel it is a waste of time - sleep is necessary and critical to our mental and physical health.

Researchers conducted a comprehensive study and came back with an answer to one of the most important questions - how long should we sleep at night?

Walla!

health

02/05/2022

Monday, 02 May 2022, 07:49

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We spend an average of 3,000 hours sleeping each year - or in other words, a third of our life expectancy, and even though it's a lot of time, it does not happen by chance.

Sleep is associated with a variety of cognitive and physiological processes in the body, and a deficiency in it can have unwanted health consequences such as chronic diseases, obesity and heart disease.

As we grow older, we may also experience changes in our sleep patterns, and understanding how much sleep is necessary for healthy functioning becomes important.

So how many hours is it recommended to sleep each night to get the beneficial effect of sleep?

Scientists from the University of Cambridge in the UK and Puden University in Shanghai have found the answer.

More on Walla!

This is the time when you need to get into bed to get a good night's sleep

To the full article

Examining data from UK BioBank, the researchers examined 498,277 participants aged 38 to 73 years who completed surveys regarding their pattern and duration of sleep, mental health and general well-being.

From this group, 40,000 participants had brain imaging profiles and additional genetic data that were available for the researchers' analysis.

How much time should you spend in bed sleeping.

Gif of old people (Photo: Giphy)

The results of the study, published in the journal Nature Aging, indicate that participants who slept about 7 hours a day without significant disruption in their daily sleep patterns for extended periods had better cognitive performance.

In addition, their mental health and general well-being improved in the long run.

Less or more sleep appears to have been associated with impaired cognitive performance in tasks such as memory and problem-solving skills, and mental health in participants.

What has dementia got to do with it?

The authors also found an association between the amount of sleep and changes in the volume of central brain regions involved in memory, such as the hippocampus and other areas involved in cognitive processing in some participants.

"While we can not say unequivocally that too little or too much sleep causes cognitive problems, it seems that our analysis that looks at people over a longer period of time supports this idea. But it seems that the reasons why older people suffer from worse sleep are complex and affected by combination Of our genetic structure and our brain structure, "said Professor Jianfeng Feng of Fuden University in a statement.

The authors suggest a possible explanation for why insufficient sleep as we get older may lead to cognitive decline, and explain that it may be due to a slow-motion sleep disorder, a disorder previously associated with dementia and memory difficulties.

Although current research does not suggest why too much sleep may be a bad thing,

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The present study had a relatively large sample, so the results can be considered strong.

However, the authors highlight some limitations: the respondents reported themselves, which may present some bias, and the researchers only asked questions about the participants' overall sleep duration and did not examine other aspects such as sleep hygiene practices.

"A good night's sleep is important at all stages of life, but especially as we get older. Finding ways to improve sleep for older people can be essential to help them maintain good mental health and well-being and avoid cognitive decline, especially for patients with psychiatric disorders and dementia," concludes Professor Barbara Sahkian. From the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge University.

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