Research

Hormonal

Sleeping less than 6 hours per day significantly increases the risk of developing chronic diseases, specifically stroke and cancer, compared to sleeping 7-8 hours.

Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep per night to minimize the risk of stroke and cancer. If you sleep less than 6 hours, your risk for these conditions increases significantly. For those with hypertension, daytime napping may increase risk, whereas for non-hypertensive individuals, it might be protective. Prioritize consistent, adequate night sleep over compensatory napping if you are hypertensive.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Compared to persons sleeping 7-,8 h/day, participants with sleep duration of ,6 h had a significantly increased risk of stroke (Hazard Ratio (HR) = 2.06, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.18–3.59), cancer (HR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.09–1.87), and overall chronic diseases (HR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.10–1.55) in multivariable adjusted models.
Anne von Ruesten et al. · PLoS ONE · 2012

Why this rating

Large prospective cohort (n=23,620) with long follow-up (7.8 years) and multivariable adjustment, though exposure is self-reported.

Source

Association of Sleep Duration with Chronic Diseases in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam Study

Anne von Ruesten et al. · PLoS ONE · 2012

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0030972

cohort · n=23620Cited 260×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →