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If you regularly have trouble falling asleep, the age-old wisdom has always been to set a sleep routine and go to bed at the same time every night. Now, a new study has found that setting a sleep routine and sticking to it has tangible health benefits, too.
The study, which was recently published in Diabetes Care, has linked both getting a different amount of sleep every night and going to bed at irregular hours each evening, to a higher chance of having metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome is considered fairly common, with several million people having been diagnosed with it, but it can be very dangerous. Metabolic syndrome is basically a cluster of health issues that will increase your risk for diabetes, heart disease or stroke.
There are a lot of already-known risk factors to metabolic syndrome, including what is called ‘abdominal obesity’, which is an increased waistline, insulin resistance, and more. As you get older, your risk for developing metabolic syndrome increases as well. Other, less common risk factors include polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), fatty liver disease or sleep apnea.
Now, in addition to these, not getting a regular, routine amount of sleep can be added to the list.
If your regular nightly routine includes going to bed at widely varying hours, you are at risk. This means if on Tuesday you go to bed at 2 am, Wednesday you are tucked in and asleep by 10 pm, and Friday you are up until 3 am, you are in this category. But you’re not safe if you go to bed at the same time but get a different amount of sleep. If you’re getting 4 hours one night and 10 the next, you are also at risk.
The study shows that with every hour variable you sleep, your risk of developing metabolic syndrome goes up 27%. With every hour of bedtime variance, it increases by 23%. These numbers are huge, and the risk should be big enough to get you to rethink when you turn in at night.
The study noted that shift workers, smokers, and those who suffered from depression all had higher risks of irregular sleep, which makes sense. Scientists looking at the study think that the health risks come from the biological clock being disrupted, which can throw your body out of whack. A change in sleep patterns also often means a change in life patterns, like your eating habits. All of this can negatively affect your health!
For best health, always strive to go to sleep at the same time every night and get the same amount of sleep. Short term, you will feel better. Long term? You could live a longer and fuller life.
