New Study Links Poor Sleep To Shorter Lifespan

When people talk about what shortens life, they usually point to smoking, alcohol, poor diet or lack of exercise. But there’s another factor that often gets overlooked — sleep. Many people cut back on sleep when time runs short, not realising how serious the impact can be. New research suggests that sleeping too little may significantly reduce lifespan.

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University studied sleep habits and life expectancy across thousands of counties in the United States. Their findings show that regularly getting less than seven hours of sleep is strongly linked to a shorter life. The study, titled “Sleep insufficiency and life expectancy at the state-county level in the United States, 2019–2025,” was published in the journal SLEEP Advances. It analysed data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System, covering around 3,100 counties nationwide. The researchers looked at life expectancy trends among adults who slept fewer than seven hours a night between 2019 and 2025.

Even after accounting for factors such as diet, physical inactivity, unemployment and access to health insurance, lack of sleep stood out as a major driver of reduced lifespan. In fact, the study found sleep to be a stronger predictor of life expectancy than diet, exercise or social isolation, highlighting just how critical it is to overall health.

Previous studies have consistently shown that poor sleep puts stress on the heart, weakens the immune system, disrupts glucose metabolism and harms brain function. Chronic sleep deprivation is also linked to higher risks of obesity, diabetes, depression and heart disease, reinforcing the message that sleep should not be treated as optional.