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American Morning
'Paging Dr. Gupta'
Aired February 10, 2004 - 08:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Under the heading of less is more, a new study published in "The Journal of Sleep" found that people who slept less than eight hours a night actually lived longer.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the CNN Center with details on this study.
Hey, Sanjay. Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Everyone is obsessed with sleep, it seems, probably because people aren't getting enough of it, but that may not be such a bad thing according to a new study, a very large study. A lot of people have tried to figure out sleep. This study looked at 104,000 or so adults, and followed them for about 10 years, average age about 40-79 years old, the study done in Japan, trying to figure out how much sleep is optimal if you want to live the longest.
That's the question there we're trying to ask. Here's what they found. The sweet spot appeared to be somewhere between 6.5 and 7.5 hours a night. Those are the people who lived the longest. Now if you got less than 4.5 to 6.5, you were probably going to live longer than those who slept more than the sweet spot, those who slept 7.5 to 8.
Now if you got to the extremes, less than 4.5 or more than 10, you are actually going to live shorter lives, as well.
This is sort of interesting stuff. Soledad, I already know what you are thinking, and what a lot of people are thinking, is which comes first, is it the people who sleep more develop these medical problems, or is it because you had these medical problems that you sleep more, a very good question. These was no cause and effect really established with these studies. These are purely observational studies, but there is some context to be taken to sort of assess your own health risk. For example, people who sleep about eight hours a night are going to carry the same risk as overall shortened lifespan as those who are 10 or 20 pounds overweight. Now the risk of a 4- hour-sleeper or a 10-hour-sleeper is comparable to being a heavy smoker or being obese. So there is some context there as well. Very interesting stuff with regards to sleep and lifespan -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: When you consider how many people are very sleep deprived, then my question would be, are there any other studies that support what this study is saying? Because the question that you thought I was going to ask, I think is the question I was going to ask -- how do you know which came first?
GUPTA: I should be doing the anchoring thing.
O'BRIEN: Sure, come on by.
GUPTA: I mean, there ever a lot of studies. There have been a lot of studies on this whole sleep thing, and, again, people are trying to contextualize some of this stuff. For example, if your sleeping more than seven hours, what are some of the attributes that are associated with people who sleep more than seven hours, In terms of decreasing their lifespan. For example, more than seven hours, you had a greater risk of depressive symptoms, of stroke, myocardial infarction, cancer.
Now there was a nurse's study, a large study as well, looking specifically at people who slept too much or too little as well. What they found, if you are sleeping 9 to 11 hours, you had a 38 percent greater risk of developing heart disease. Five hours or less, 30 percent greater risk, 6 hours about -- I think we have some numbers to put up on the screen, but essentially, the 9-11 hours of sleep a night, you have the greatest associated risk of heart disease. Those are the people who slept too much.
Now, if you weren't sleeping enough, sleep deprivation, so to speak, there were other symptoms as well. You develop more problems with blood pressure, more problems subsequently with heart disease, decreased glucose tolerance. All the things that you can see there on the screen are associated with people who have sleep deprivation.
It is going to be probably impossible, Soledad, to answer the question both you and I are asking, which is, again, comes first. But these are things that are associated with people who sleep more or don't sleep enough.
O'BRIEN: So then are doctors advising people to restrict their sleep? Because, honestly, Sanjay, I could use 9 to 10 hours every, single night. I never get it. But I would aim for that every single day if I could. So should I be aiming for much less sleep?
GUPTA: Oh, you look great with the 9-10 hours by the way. I don't think anyone is advising sleep restrictions. That has not bee -- we had a lot of discussions with the research authors about less. If you sleep less than 4.5 hours or so, you are going to start to develop problems with memory, things like that.
You know, as far as sleep restriction, if you are making sure you make up at a certain time every morning, there are some benefits to that. For example, you are probably going to fall asleep more rapidly when you go to bed at night. You are going to sleep more soundly at night. You are probably going to feel better during the day if you wake up at a certain time every day. That was the only thing that sort of came out of it. Don't restrict your sleep necessarily based on this study alone.
O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta, it's a fascinating study, isn't it? Thanks for sharing it with us. Appreciate it. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 10, 2004 - 08:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Under the heading of less is more, a new study published in "The Journal of Sleep" found that people who slept less than eight hours a night actually lived longer.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the CNN Center with details on this study.
Hey, Sanjay. Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Everyone is obsessed with sleep, it seems, probably because people aren't getting enough of it, but that may not be such a bad thing according to a new study, a very large study. A lot of people have tried to figure out sleep. This study looked at 104,000 or so adults, and followed them for about 10 years, average age about 40-79 years old, the study done in Japan, trying to figure out how much sleep is optimal if you want to live the longest.
That's the question there we're trying to ask. Here's what they found. The sweet spot appeared to be somewhere between 6.5 and 7.5 hours a night. Those are the people who lived the longest. Now if you got less than 4.5 to 6.5, you were probably going to live longer than those who slept more than the sweet spot, those who slept 7.5 to 8.
Now if you got to the extremes, less than 4.5 or more than 10, you are actually going to live shorter lives, as well.
This is sort of interesting stuff. Soledad, I already know what you are thinking, and what a lot of people are thinking, is which comes first, is it the people who sleep more develop these medical problems, or is it because you had these medical problems that you sleep more, a very good question. These was no cause and effect really established with these studies. These are purely observational studies, but there is some context to be taken to sort of assess your own health risk. For example, people who sleep about eight hours a night are going to carry the same risk as overall shortened lifespan as those who are 10 or 20 pounds overweight. Now the risk of a 4- hour-sleeper or a 10-hour-sleeper is comparable to being a heavy smoker or being obese. So there is some context there as well. Very interesting stuff with regards to sleep and lifespan -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: When you consider how many people are very sleep deprived, then my question would be, are there any other studies that support what this study is saying? Because the question that you thought I was going to ask, I think is the question I was going to ask -- how do you know which came first?
GUPTA: I should be doing the anchoring thing.
O'BRIEN: Sure, come on by.
GUPTA: I mean, there ever a lot of studies. There have been a lot of studies on this whole sleep thing, and, again, people are trying to contextualize some of this stuff. For example, if your sleeping more than seven hours, what are some of the attributes that are associated with people who sleep more than seven hours, In terms of decreasing their lifespan. For example, more than seven hours, you had a greater risk of depressive symptoms, of stroke, myocardial infarction, cancer.
Now there was a nurse's study, a large study as well, looking specifically at people who slept too much or too little as well. What they found, if you are sleeping 9 to 11 hours, you had a 38 percent greater risk of developing heart disease. Five hours or less, 30 percent greater risk, 6 hours about -- I think we have some numbers to put up on the screen, but essentially, the 9-11 hours of sleep a night, you have the greatest associated risk of heart disease. Those are the people who slept too much.
Now, if you weren't sleeping enough, sleep deprivation, so to speak, there were other symptoms as well. You develop more problems with blood pressure, more problems subsequently with heart disease, decreased glucose tolerance. All the things that you can see there on the screen are associated with people who have sleep deprivation.
It is going to be probably impossible, Soledad, to answer the question both you and I are asking, which is, again, comes first. But these are things that are associated with people who sleep more or don't sleep enough.
O'BRIEN: So then are doctors advising people to restrict their sleep? Because, honestly, Sanjay, I could use 9 to 10 hours every, single night. I never get it. But I would aim for that every single day if I could. So should I be aiming for much less sleep?
GUPTA: Oh, you look great with the 9-10 hours by the way. I don't think anyone is advising sleep restrictions. That has not bee -- we had a lot of discussions with the research authors about less. If you sleep less than 4.5 hours or so, you are going to start to develop problems with memory, things like that.
You know, as far as sleep restriction, if you are making sure you make up at a certain time every morning, there are some benefits to that. For example, you are probably going to fall asleep more rapidly when you go to bed at night. You are going to sleep more soundly at night. You are probably going to feel better during the day if you wake up at a certain time every day. That was the only thing that sort of came out of it. Don't restrict your sleep necessarily based on this study alone.
O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta, it's a fascinating study, isn't it? Thanks for sharing it with us. Appreciate it. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
