Lack of Sleep Doubles Risk of Heart Disease

Getting 7 hours of sleep a night is best, and people who consistently sleep less are risking their lives, a new study says. Researchers followed 10,000 civil servants for 17 years and found that those who reduced their sleep from 7 hours a night to 5 or less doubled their risk of dying from heart disease, Reuters reports.

"A third of the population of the UK and over 40% in the US regularly sleep less than 5 hours a night, so it is not a trivial problem," one researcher said. The study, the first to link sleep duration and mortality rates, also showed lack of sleep increasing the risk of death from all causes.