Sleep—Too Much of a Good Thing?

January 08, 2010

I realize that everyone is talking this month about the need to get more sleep. With the
holiday season over and busy work days back upon us, we are flooded with messages
urging us to get sleep despite the numerous time constraints of our daily lives. And I
have even written in the past to sleep better.

It is true that too little sleep is bad for your health – it can cause a heart attack, it can
make you gain weight, as well as increase your risk for cancer and even make you die
prematurely. But what about the flip slide – is it possible to get too much sleep? And
what counts as “too much”?

A recent article in the Journal of Sleep Research looked at the association between the
number of hours we sleep and the possible health risks. After looking at the results from
over 20 other research studies, researchers discovered that adults who sleep on average
more than 9 hours per night experienced more health problems such as obesity and stroke
than those who got a restful 7-8 hours. Some scientists believe that too much sleep is
actually more dangerous to our health than too little sleep.

Now I’m not talking about those of us try to “catch up” on sleep on the weekends, trying
to make up for the nights we sleep too little. (And I might point out there’s no such thing
as “catching up on sleep.”!) The exact mechanism for the increased health problems is
not known but some think longer sleep leads to less exposure to daylight, as well as lower
levels of beneficial stress. That’s right…some stress can be beneficial.

 I often find that when patients come in complaining of too much sleep that there is often
an underlying problem. Often, they are depressed and don’t have an interest in getting
out of bed. Depression is often under-diagnosed and too much sleep can be an early sign.
Luckily there are good therapies – both with and without drugs to fight depression.
Others actually are equating the number of hours in bed with sleep, when in fact they are
getting too little sleep due to restlessness and sometimes chronic pain. And if you are
sleeping during the day, that could be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea.

I also want to point out that as we get older, we do not need more sleep. I can’t tell you
how many patients come in with elderly parents and complain they sleep all day. Well,
something is wrong there and should be evaluated. As we get older, the quality of our
sleep decreases but the total amount of sleep should stay the same --- 7-8 hours.

Like many of you, I do like to sleep! One of the reasons I did not go into surgery or
anesthesiology is that I don’t like to get up before 6 am! I do recognize, however, that
developing a good sleep regimen is important for good health. So like many others have
told you, establish a regular sleep time in the evening and wake-up time in the morning
and stick with it every day, including weekends. Sleeping longer on weekends actually
messes up our biologic clocks. It’s only natural that there are going to be days when you

sometimes get more, and sometimes get less. But aim for 7-8 hours of sleep a night, and
you will do well! Like a lot of things, too much sleep isn’t good for you!

Comments

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[MedVet]

For my wife, it is very important to sleep well, or else all will be in vain. While I agree that a lot of sleep is not good.

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[JT]

Sleeping allows our bodies the time for healing. A lot of metabolic activities happen when we are asleep. Finding the proper time and amount of sleep for yourself is very important to your health.

[die steel]

I like this kind mutual communication very much. I can learn much from that. The opinion that everyone gives also can be as useful information.

[Sleep Apnea Treatment]

Although the dangers of too little sleep are widely known, new research suggests that people who sleep too much may also suffer the consequences.
Specifically, investigators at the University of California in San Diego found that people who clock up 9 or 10 hours each weeknight appear to have more trouble falling and staying asleep, as well as a host of other sleep problems, than people who sleep 8 hours a night.
People who slept only 7 hours each night also said they had more trouble falling asleep and feeling refreshed after a night's sleep than 8-hour sleepers.

[Penegra]

Have you seen people who sleep wayyyy too much and spoil their health? Well, its true and this post makes a lot of sense man. One can get lethargic by sleeping more than you require. Atleast I have faced this problem and you could become fat as well.

[cpap sleep apnea]

hi, what's the problem when it is hard for you to sleep and a little sounds will wake you up so easily...What will be the effects if you lack the number of sleeps required by your body?

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Sleep is too much of good/bad thing. You sleep too much you're just lethargic and unproductive. It's kind of the opposite... The more sleep you get the more tired you are throughout the days.

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I wish I had a good sleep schedule. Right now I average about 4 hours of sleep a night. I'm stuck in the habit of staying up late... But now I'm getting up much earlier than I was before and it's really, really starting to wear on me. Not to mention all of the additional caffeine intake is probably taking years off my life :(

[peoria doc]

Not only is the amount of sleep important to monitor, but also when you're getting it. Your brain is wired to function best when sleeping during the dark part of the 24-hour cycle: that's why you're encouraged to keep lights off in your bedroom and televisions out of the bedroom. You can get 7-8 hours, but if it's during the daytime, it won't be as restful. 3rd shift workers have been able to adapt, because the human body is a fascinatingly resilient thing, but the quality of sleep during the day is still lacking.

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I wish I had a good sleep schedule. Right now I average about 4 hours of sleep a night. I'm stuck in the habit of staying up late... But now I'm getting up much earlier than I was before and it's really, really starting to wear on me. Not to mention all of the additional caffeine intake is probably taking years off my life :(

[scott @ avandia lawsuit]

Sleep is too much of good/bad thing. You sleep too much you're just lethargic and unproductive. It's kind of the opposite... The more sleep you get the more tired you are throughout the days.

[Carlos Arroyo, PT]

Not having enough sleep is just as devastating as having too much. I see many people with great difficulty sleeping restfully at night and this impacts their healing from injury or surgery.The delays in healing are enough to warrant concern for everyone especially when it is a painful condition. Visit my site for more helpful info- thephysicaltherapistnyc.com.

[memory foam]

My experience matches with this -- in the past I've gone through short time periods when I was getting too much sleep and the results were not so good. I would feel dullness during the day and sluggishness when I wanted to engage in a lot of exercise.

What happened to me I think was that after over exertion, there can be a tendency to indulge in sleep more than is necessary. Now I try to exercise well without getting exhausted and sleep ends up more balanced.