Too much sleep can cause early death

Do you know that sleeping more than nine hours a day is as deadly as smoking and drinking?

A new study carried out by researchers at the University of Sydney revealed that having too much sleep along with sitting too much during the day and a lack of exercise is hazardous to your health.

The research team led by Dr. Melody Ding looked into the lifestyle behaviors of more than 230,000 participants in a “45 and Up Study” that looks at health as people age. Behaviors that influence the risk of disease such as poor diet, smoking, excessive drinking, and being physically inactive were analyzed. Excess sitting time and lack or too much sleep were also considered in the study.

The researchers also studied different combinations of the risk factors to identify which groupings were most likely to increase the risk for premature death.

Their findings revealed that the combination of prolonged sleep, lack of exercise, and too much sitting makes you four times likely to die a premature death.

“Our study shows that we should really be taking these behaviors together as seriously as we do risk factors such as levels of drinking and unhealthy eating patterns,” Dr. Ding explained.

In addition, the research discovered that lack of sleep combined with high alcohol intake and smoking increases risk of premature death by four-fold.