Quantity and quality matter
Michael Breus, PhD, clinical psychologist and founder of TheSleepDoctor.com, said the results are “not particularly surprising but are consistent with other data.”
Dr. Breus said, “Many people don’t realize it’s not just sleep deprivation, in terms of minutes, that’s a problem. Our quality of sleep also matters. You can get 8 hours of crappy sleep and still injure yourself playing sports or get into a car accident due to poor reaction time.”
As previously reported by this news organization, the American Heart Association recently added healthy sleep as an essential component of heart health. “It’s nice to see them recognize that sleep is a big deal, and we’ve got the data to back it up,” said Dr. Breus.
He noted that people often ask him what’s the one thing they can do to improve sleep.
“The answer is always, wake up at the same time every single day, including the weekend, because your circadian system realigns every single morning.
“I solve maybe 50%-60% of people’s problems by just telling them to just wake up at the same time 7 days a week. I personally have been doing it for a very long time,” said Dr. Breus.
The study was supported by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Mr. Locklear and Dr. Breus have no relevant disclosures.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.