Sleeping over eight hours a night could be bad for your health

When was the last time you had more than eight hours sleep?

For some lucky ones it may have been on the weekend, but for most we’re going to guess it’s been a while.

It’s a general consensus in life these days that most of us don’t get enough sleep.

With work commitments, looking after kids and occasionally taking some alone time to get way too into binge-watching a season on Netflix, it can be tough to fit in enough shuteye.

And while sometimes we can run on adrenaline, food and coffee, a lot of the time a shorter slumber can leave us feeling drained and as if we’re maltreating our bodies.

Well a new study has revealed that it could actually be better for us.

The joint study led by researchers at the Universities of Keele, Manchester, Leeds and East Anglia found that people who get more than eight hours of sleep a night could be more likely to die young.

Scientists found that those same people have a 47 per cent higher risk of developing heart disease or having a stroke at some point in their lives.

To come to their findings, the researchers analysed the sleep quality of 3.3 million people from around the world and combined the results of 74 previous studies.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, found that the lowest risk was for those who slept seven to eight hours a night.

For people who slept less than that the risk was marginally higher, but for participants who slept for longer than eight hours the jump was significant.

Participants who slept for nine hours a night had a 14 per cent increased mortality risk, for those who had 10 hours sleep it jumped to 30 per cent, and people who slept for 11 hours were 47 per cent more likely to die young.

Study leaders said that doctors should check long sleepers for conditions like cardiovascular disease, chronic inflammatory disorders and anaemia.

Looks like we better stick to our early mornings then!