Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality than sleep duration (2023)

academic.oup.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 262 posts

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality than sleep duration (2023)

#71

Post by artdigital »

noduerme wrote: post #28
atomicnumber3 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone whose natural sleep cycle seems to be closer to 26-28 hours, and whose preferred sleeping hours in a 24-hour cycle are 6am to 2-3pm... I commend you. Sincerely, someone forced into a "normal" schedule by kids school start times and, well, everything else too, I suppose.

Hah. I've often thought that my actual rhythm is for a 25-26 hour day. I was going to write that but it seemed like too much to explain. As I go to bed later and later, eventually I find myself awake past sunrise, which is usually the day when I'll intentionally have a short sleep and snap back to an early bedtime that night. Kids would definitely screw up this aspect of my lifestyle lol. But kids give you immortalit…

> I've often thought that my actual rhythm is for a 25-26 hour day

To be fair, we're all like this. The average length of Circadian Cycle is closer to 25h than 24h when isolated: https://www.circadiansleepdisorders.org/info/cycle_length.ph...

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality than sleep duration (2023)

#72

Post by benrapscallion »

Calavar wrote: post #13

> We aimed to assess the relationship of objectively measured sleep regularity with risk for all-cause mortality, and mortality from cardiometabolic causes and cancer, in a large cohort (N = 60 977) who wore accelerometer devices for 1 week. They look at one week of sleep data and then check mortality records about 10 to 15 years later. It's hard to argue a causative effect between one week of bad sleep and death pot…

That’s because this is in UK Biobank, a cohort of >500K Brits and collecting actually in such a large cohort is a miracle, let alone for multiple days. All thanks to the people who volunteered into the study. Would it be nice to have even more? Sure. But at that scale, patterns start to emerge.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality than sleep duration (2023)

#73

Post by kaonwarb »

kimixa wrote: post #39
geysersam wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems easier to see: "some people have lots of difficulties in their lives that makes them have an irregular sleep schedule; some people have lots of difficulties in their lives that makes them die early"

I agree - an obvious connection would be "Lower income jobs tend to have less control over their schedule", be it shift workers, hourly service jobs or similar. There also may be links to worse healthcare due to lack of insurance in those jobs. It might just be another "Poorer people don't live as long" correlation.

They at least tried: "Results were adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, and sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health factors."

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality than sleep duration (2023)

#74

Post by magicalhippo »

jorvi wrote: post #58
magicalhippo wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall watching a documentary on Discovery way back, where they followed some multiday ultramaraton competitors. They'd draw blood samples, measure vitals and have them answer mental acuity questionnaires each time they stopped for food or sleep. The competitors limited themselves to power naps, max 30 minutes though often just ten minutes. The scientist found that all the physical adverse effects of sleep deprivat…

> The scientist found that all the physical adverse effects of sleep deprivation were negated by the short power naps. Though IIRC the mental acuity did drop some as the event progressed. I assume you mixed these up? There's two well-known extreme sleep schedules (Uberman 6x20m or Dymaxion 4x30m) that let you subsist on two hours of sleep a day, because you drop into REM sleep immediately. This however only clears up…

Pretty sure I did not. But it was related to blood pressure, stress markers in blood and such as I recall it.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality than sleep duration (2023)

#75

Post by xpl »

hypeatei wrote: post #7

Does anyone else consistently get 6 to 7 hours of sleep no matter what? It doesn't feel optimal and I feel great on the rare days I get 8 hours, but I can function just fine on less. Also cannot easily fall back asleep if woken up which is really frustrating.

> Does anyone else consistently get 6 to 7 hours of sleep no matter what

6 hours is too little IMO. If I sleep 6 hours for more than a few days in a row, I feel like shit and need caffeine to wake up properly. Then I end up sleeping 10-12 hours on my days off to compensate (and to take a break from caffeine). It doesn't feel healthy.

So, I try to get at least 8 hours consistently. That way, I don't need caffeine at all and function just about fine.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality than sleep duration (2023)

#76

Post by CardenB »

devmor wrote: post #60
tayo42 wrote: post #49

After having a kid Ive wondered how all these sleep disruption means you'll die studies could actually be true. You'd think evolution would have taken care of it at some point

As far as evolution is concerned, you've already had the kid - you passed on your genes. If you survive long enough to make sure your kid reaches maturity, that's all that matters there. Evolution can't select for anything that happens significantly past the birth of your progeny.

long enough to pass on genes also includes living long enough to make sure your child survives, so there is that as well.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality than sleep duration (2023)

#77

Post by deergomoo »

atomicnumber3 wrote: post #25
noduerme wrote: post #21

I wonder how this translates if the irregularity is by choice . I can certainly see why people working back to back night and day shifts, or otherwise frequently being at a sleep debt that was compensated for later, would die younger. But as a freelancer, my sleep schedule is more or less my own. I go to sleep when I'm tired and usually try to sleep as long as I want to. Sometimes that's 11pm-10am, sometimes 6am-11am…

As someone whose natural sleep cycle seems to be closer to 26-28 hours, and whose preferred sleeping hours in a 24-hour cycle are 6am to 2-3pm... I commend you. Sincerely, someone forced into a "normal" schedule by kids school start times and, well, everything else too, I suppose.

I really hoped I’d grow out of wanting to sleep ~3-11am but it’s just never happened. No matter how tired I am during the day, I get a second wind around 8pm and have to force myself to go to bed at a reasonable hour during the work week because I won’t get sleepy, even if I stay away from screens.

Unfortunately I really enjoy night time, so I regularly completely fail at that task. I can’t remember the last time I woke up feeling rested, and yet here I am on Hacker News at 1:48am. At least I can sleep in tomorrow.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality than sleep duration (2023)

#78

Post by MengerSponge »

deergomoo wrote: post #77
atomicnumber3 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone whose natural sleep cycle seems to be closer to 26-28 hours, and whose preferred sleeping hours in a 24-hour cycle are 6am to 2-3pm... I commend you. Sincerely, someone forced into a "normal" schedule by kids school start times and, well, everything else too, I suppose.

I really hoped I’d grow out of wanting to sleep ~3-11am but it’s just never happened. No matter how tired I am during the day, I get a second wind around 8pm and have to force myself to go to bed at a reasonable hour during the work week because I won’t get sleepy, even if I stay away from screens. Unfortunately I really enjoy night time, so I regularly completely fail at that task. I can’t remember the last time I w…

Do you drink any caffeine?

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality than sleep duration (2023)

#79

Post by snitzr »

Sleep is like drinking water. No one says, "I'm gonna get dehydrated right now and then drink a lot more water later so it's OK." But people do this for sleep. You need to sleep right when you're tired, because being tired is a stress that will need more time to heal the longer it goes. Sleep timing is underrated but it is just as important as quality and amount.
Post reply on HN