
There is no doubt that the impact of good sleep on human health is significant. The next day can be miserable after each restless night. If your sleep is disturbed at night, you might not only be sleepless but your health might also be in threat.
According to recent research led by Stanford University, disruption of sleep patterns and an increase in sleep interruptions may be key factors in the reduction of human lifespan.
Sleep expert Emmanuel Mignot, MD, Ph.D., and his colleagues examined a total of 12.000 studies that each focused on a person and reported aspects of their sleep, such as chin and leg movement, breathing, and heartbeat.
A machine learning-based system was developed by researchers to predict a person’s “sleep age.”
Their goal was to develop a tool that could determine an individual’s sleep age and identify the sleep patterns that were most closely related to mortality.
Why is sleep age so important?
We must first understand what sleep age is in order to understand its significance. According to the quality of a person’s sleep, their projected age is roughly equivalent to person health.
In addition to our brain going through an automatic programme while we sleep, our heart rate and breathing also change. The study emphasises that changes in these parameters could act as early indicators of a health issue.
In addition to these, there are easy things we can do to enhance our sleep quality. For instance, getting enough sunlight during the day, working out frequently but not too close to bedtime, not drinking alcohol & caffeine around bed time, and avoiding heavy meals at night are all factors in healthy sleep.
The most accurate predictor of mortality
According to Emmanuel Mignot, the study’s key finding was that the strongest predictor of mortality was sleep fragmentation, which occurs when people repeatedly wake up during the night for less than a minute without remembering it.
“Although we see an association in the data, it is not known how it contributes to mortality. This is different from a person realizing they are waking up, which happens during sleep disorders such as insomnia“.
What will be the next step?
Scientists from Harvard University are currently collaborating with Emmanuel Mignot and his group. More data will be gathered with the help of 250.000 people studies.
Scientists from Harvard University are currently collaborating with Emmanuel Mignot and his group. More data will be gathered with the help of 250.000 people studies.
The research was published in Digital Medicine on July 22.