Scientists say running can counteract the health risks of poor sleep
If you tend to get up early, it might be a good idea to go for an early morning run.
A study has found that regular exercise can offset the increased risk of early death for people with poor sleep.
Too little or too much sleep is linked to a shorter life, but scientists have found that physical activity counteracts many of the negative effects.
Using data from more than 92,000 Britons, they found that the chances of dying early from either cancer or cardiovascular disease – such as a heart attack or stroke – were eliminated by exercise.
Researchers from Guangzhou Medical University, China, studied the health records of participants, ages 40 to 73, who wore an accelerometer wristband for one week between 2013 and 2015.
Too little or too much sleep is linked to a shorter life, but scientists have found that physical activity counteracts many of the negative effects
In the first study examining the combined effects of physical activity and sleep duration, they found that sleeping less than six hours or more than eight hours increased the chances of an early death by 16 percent and 37, respectively.
But those who met the World Health Organization’s goals of at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week — such as brisk walking or riding a bike — or 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise such as running saw the risk disappear.
When they looked at an individual disease, they found that those who didn’t get enough exercise and slept outside of recommended guidelines had a 69% higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke and a 21% higher risk of dying from cancer.
Again, these risks were found to disappear with moderate or high levels of exercise, according to findings published in the Journal of the European Society of Cardiology.
Dr Jihui Zhang, who led the research, said: ‘Our findings suggest that health promotion efforts targeting physical activity and sleep duration may be more effective in preventing or delaying premature death in middle-aged and older adults than focusing on one behavior alone.
In an ideal scenario, people would always get healthy amounts of sleep and physical activity.
“However, our study suggests that getting enough exercise may partially offset the detrimental effect of missing a good night’s sleep.”
