New Study: Both Too Little and Too Much Sleep May Accelerate Aging

A new international study shows that both insufficient and excessively long sleep may be linked to faster biological aging and an increased risk of various diseases. This was reported by Euronews.

Scientists analyzed data from nearly half a million participants in the UK Biobank and identified a clear pattern: individuals who regularly sleep less than six hours or more than eight hours more frequently show signs of accelerated biological aging.

Researchers utilized so-called “biological aging clocks”—machine-learning-based tools that assess whether an individual is aging faster or slower than their chronological age. Biological data, such as brain scans, blood proteins, and chemical markers in the body, were used for this purpose.

The results demonstrate a U-shaped pattern: individuals who sleep an average number of hours show the best indicators, while both extremes are associated with accelerated aging.

This correlation was observed across multiple organs and systems, including the brain, lungs, liver, immune system, skin, and metabolism.

Insufficient sleep was particularly strongly associated with brain and mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety, further confirming previous research on the link between sleep and mental health.

“The broad brain-body pattern is significant because it demonstrates that sleep duration is deeply connected to our entire physiology and has implications for nearly the whole organism,” said Junhao Wen, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of radiology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in the U.S.

In addition to brain disorders, short sleep duration was linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, asthma, and digestive issues such as reflux.

Prolonged sleep also showed a correlation with various health problems, although researchers noted that in some cases, it may be a consequence of pre-existing conditions rather than a direct cause of impairment.

“Previous research has shown that sleep is closely linked to aging and pathological processes in the brain,” Wen said.

“Our study goes further, showing that both too little and too much sleep are associated with accelerated aging in almost every organ. This supports the idea that sleep is key to maintaining organ health within a coordinated brain-body system, including metabolic balance and a healthy immune system,” he added.

However, the researchers emphasized that the study does not prove that sleep directly causes these changes. Some of the sleep data were based on participant self-reports, which may be less accurate than objective sleep measurements.

According to the scientists, further research is needed to determine whether disrupted sleep actually accelerates aging or if health problems themselves affect sleep patterns.

They also called for future studies using more precise sleep measurement methods and more diverse participant groups.