Title: Consistent Sleep Schedule Found to Slow Down Biological Aging, Study Reveals
Subtitle: New research highlights the importance of maintaining a regular sleep pattern for overall health
By Jane Herz | Published Sep. 27, 2023, 4:50 p.m. ET
Getting adequate beauty rest may actually be important for your health after all. A new study out of Georgia has found that having a consistent and steady sleep schedule can help slow down the biological aging process.
The research, published in the journal Sleep Health last month, concluded that those who had inconsistent sleeping patterns had a higher biological age compared to those with a regular sleep schedule. While biological age tests can be controversial, experts argue they are an astute indication of the amount of “damage” that has occurred inside the body.
The study aimed to measure the rate at which the body is aging by examining the age of the cells. Researchers from Augusta University analyzed the sleep patterns of over 6,000 participants from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey taken between 2011 and 2014.
Participants, who averaged age 50, wore a sleep tracker for four to seven days and answered a questionnaire about their lifestyle habits. Blood samples were taken to determine biological age by assessing various health markers such as cholesterol levels, diabetes, and kidney disease.
The results showed that around 65% of participants slept for seven to nine hours per night, while 16% slept less than seven hours, and 19% slept over nine hours. Interestingly, participants got an extra 78 minutes of sleep on the weekends, and their bedtimes varied by only 60 minutes each night.
The study revealed that individuals with the largest differences in bedtimes and sleep duration during the week compared to the weekend had the highest biological age. Specifically, those with highly flexible sleep schedules were found to have a biological age that was nine months older than those with a consistent schedule.
“We found that larger sleep variability, more catch-up sleep, larger sleep irregularity, and more social jetlag were associated with more advanced biological aging,” the authors of the study wrote.
In addition to its impact on biological aging, a lack of consistent sleep can also affect heart health, increase blood pressure, and have adverse effects on cognitive abilities and mental health, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The authors of the study emphasized the correlation between sleep patterns and living a longer and healthier life. They suggested that interventions aimed at increasing regularity in sleep patterns may be a novel approach for extending a healthy lifespan.
Overall, this research highlights the significance of maintaining a consistent sleep schedule for better health and slower biological aging. As the first study of its kind to explore the relationship between sleep and biological aging, it provides valuable insights into the importance of prioritizing and optimizing sleep habits.
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