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. (More United Kingdom stories.)