Sleep is one of the most important pillars of health. Poor sleep has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, obesity, impaired recovery, and reduced physical performance.
But does sleeping less actually shorten your lifespan, or is poor sleep simply a sign that something else is going on?
A recent meta-analysis found that people who consistently slept less than 7 hours per night had a 14% higher risk of death, while those who regularly slept more than 8–9 hours had a 34% higher risk compared to people sleeping around 7–8 hours.
While this might scare those who sleep outside the 7-8 hour norm, those numbers don’t always tell the definitive truth.. It’s important to remember that these studies show an association, not necessarily cause and effect.
One of the biggest challenges in sleep research is that many illnesses disrupt sleep long before they are diagnosed. Chronic pain, depression, heart disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases can all lead to poor sleep. In other words, sleep may be acting as a marker of underlying health rather than being the direct cause of a shorter lifespan.
That’s why researchers continue to adjust for these factors, and why the relationship between sleep and longevity is likely more complex than many headlines suggest.
The takeaway is simple: don’t lose sleep over your sleep.
Aim for consistent, good-quality sleep because it improves how you think, move, recover, learn, and feel every day.
The longevity benefits may be more nuanced than we once believed, but the benefits to your health and quality of life are undeniable.
Ungvari Z, et al. (2025). Imbalanced sleep increases mortality risk by 14–34%: A systematic review and meta-analysis. GeroScience.
