Too Little or Too Much Sleep Harmful

7-8 Hours of Sleep Seems to be the Magic Number for Health

Aug 31, 2008

There has certainly been much information about the benefits of sleep lately. It is a common complaint of parents that their teenagers sleep so much! Well, that may be just what they need according to recent research. Nine hours of sleep is what the teen brain needs.

Case Western Reserve University Research

Researchers from CWRU wrote in the American Heart Association journal Circulation that the risk of developing high blood pressure with less than 6 ½ hours of sleep was triple than average. This was after the study was adjusted for sex, weight and socioeconomic status.

High blood pressure can damage arteries, kidneys, cause kidney disease or a stroke and lead to congestive heart failure later in life.

The Pool of Teens

Dr. Susan Redline, who led the study, studied 238 teens from 13 to 16 years of age. On average, these students got 7.7 hours of sleep a night while they really needed 9 hours.

16% of the teens said that they had poor quality of sleep because they had trouble falling asleep or woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep. One of the reasons they don’t have a good quality of sleep is consumption of caffeine in the evening, warm air temperatures and technology. "Part of the problem is the technological invasion of the bedroom with computers, cell phones and music," said Redline. "There are teens who text message or listen to music all night, compounded by early school hours. Adolescents need nine hours of sleep. Parents should optimize sleep quality for their family with regular sleep and wake times and bedrooms should be kept quiet, dark and conducive to sleep."

Redline also mentioned that the problem is probably larger than the study indicates because children with diagnosed sleeping disorders were excluded from the study.

Too Much Sleep

Once women become middle-aged, the danger is sleeping too much. Women increase chances for a stroke by 70% by sleeping 9 hours or more a night. Risk decreases to 24% if there is 8 hours of sleep and to 14% with 6 hours of sleep. Snoring did not seem to be a factor.

The Pool

The women in the study pool were 50 to 79 years old and the study group was made up of 93,175 women. Dr. Jui-Chiuan Chen from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill supervised the study. After following this group for over seven years, 1,166 women experienced an ischemic stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel becomes blocked in the brain causing the brain to be deprived of oxygen. When this occurs, brain tissue dies.

Unfortunately, the study was unable to state that the risk of a stroke decreases with less sleep. That is unknown.

The copyright of the article Too Little or Too Much Sleep Harmful in Student Health Issues is owned by Barbara Pytel. Permission to republish Too Little or Too Much Sleep Harmful in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Sep 11, 2008 7:34 AM

Guest :

I just took on a second job and have been getting only 5-6 hours. After reading this, I'm going to bed an hour earlier.

Sep 23, 2008 8:55 AM

Guest :

I just don't feel good if I sleep for long periods of time. I have a hard time waking up and feel groggy all day.

Oct 26, 2008 7:30 PM

Guest :

my son is 14, he is always tired, he is asleep within 10 minutes of goig to bed, sleeps through the night, and naps almosts every day. weekend 12hrs sleep per night, mon, 9hrs 45 min. tues,10hrs 5 min. wed,11 hrs, 50 min. thurs 8 hrs, 35 min. fri 11 hrs. He did not nap this week but he wanted to. He is active, plays sports. jogs in the evening. I have had his bloodwork done, B12 was low but is now within normal limits. I took him in again for more bloodwork, I am worried there is something being missed. Hoping for some insight. There seems to be info for teenagers that don't get enough sleep but nothing on tired teens that sleep too much.

Mar 10, 2009 8:56 AM

Guest :

My son sleeps on average 10 hours a night and also sleeps for a couple of hours when returning from college in the afternoon.I'm worried that something is wrong for him to need so much sleep.

May 25, 2009 5:03 PM

Guest :

If women who sleep more are also more likely to have a stroke, it does not indicate that the quantity of sleep is the CAUSE of the stroke. There could be another factor that is causing both. E.g. depression, stress, lack of exercise. And please stop worrying about teenagers sleeping too much! 9 hours was nowhere near enough for me when I was that age, and I suffered guilt and feelings of being lazy and irresponsible for years until I talked to other people who had also found they slept more when they were growing teenagers. You don't need to take your son to the doctor, just let him sleep til he feels like waking up, and don't risk alientating him by making him worry you think he is lazy (or he will hide under the duvet, even when he's awake, because he will be afraid to talk to you).