SLEEP: UK government prescribes minimum amount of sleep
July 27, 2019 • 1 min read
-- Poor sleep is so toxic the UK government is proposing guidelines for sleep hygiene.
Draft guidelines say less than seven hours’ sleep can damage mental and physical health, echoing other research highlighting the deleterious effects of bad sleep.
Indeed, the World Health Organization classifies night-shift work – a common cause of disrupted sleep – as a probable carcinogen.
Surveys by the Sleep Council reveal one in three Britons regularly sleep poorly. The situation is possibly worse across the Atlantic, with 35% of adults in the US regularly sleeping less than seven hours per 24, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
While attention has focused on the risks of poor sleep, other studies show the value of a good night’s sleep. Earlier this year a German team of scientists said they had discovered sleep improves the ability of immune cells to hit their targets and fight off infection.
Get your eight hours.