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Snoozing that alarm clock could be costing you your life

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Alarm clock. (Photo: Getty Images/Gallo Images)
Alarm clock. (Photo: Getty Images/Gallo Images)

It’s said that happiness is not having to set your alarm for the next day.

Well, if that’s the case then happiness comes at a hefty price because new research suggests sleeping for more than 10 hours carries health risks.

A recent study showed that shutting your eyes for more than 10 hours or less than six hours could increase the risk of an early death, Tech Times writes.

The Metro adds that people who sleep for 10 hours are 30% more likely to die prematurely than those who sleep for eight.

They also carry a 56% increased risk of death from a stroke and a 49% increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

And that’s not all.

More than 10 hours spent in a state of slumber carries the risk of an elevated waist circumference, high triglyceride (a type of fat) levels, low levels of “good” cholesterol, hypertension and high fasting blood sugar (which is referred to as metabolic syndrome).

The study, published in the BMC Public Health journal, was conducted on 133 608 participants aged between 40-69 years, News18 writes.

"This is the largest study examining a dose-response association between sleep duration and metabolic syndrome, and its components, separately for men and women," lead author of the study, Claire E Kim from Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea says.

"We observed a potential gender difference between sleep duration and metabolic syndrome, with an association between metabolic syndrome and long sleep in women and metabolic syndrome and short sleep in men.”

On the other hand, getting less than six hours of sleep is associated with higher risk of metabolic syndrome in men and higher circumference among both men and women.

So how many hours do we actually need?                            

Well, according to the United States’ National Sleep Foundation it differs according to age.

A new born baby (0-3 months) = 14-17 hours

Infant (4-11 months) = 12-15 hours

Toddler (1-2 years) = 11-14 hours

Pre-school (3-5 years) = 10-13 hours

School age (6-13 years) = 9-11 hours

Teen (14-17 years) = 8-10 hours

Young adult (18-25 years) = 7-9 hours

Adult (26-64 years) = 7-9 hours

Older adult (65+) = 7-8 hours

SOURCES: THE METRO, TECH TIMES, NEWS18, NATIONAL SLEEP FOUNDATION

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