This Sleep Pattern May Improve Your Chances of Healthy Aging by 18%, Study Finds

Consistently sleeping between seven and eight hours a night can increase your chances of healthy aging, a new study finds.

Researchers collected data from 3,306 Chinese adults who had no major chronic diseases at baseline and survived to age 60 and older at the end of the study. They analyzed the participants' sleep patterns between 2011 and 2015 and evaluated their aging status in 2020.

People who got between seven and eight hours of sleep per day had an 18.1% likelihood of healthy aging, compared to those with short (8.8%) or decreasing (9.9%) sleep time. The researchers defined healthy aging as “living long while remaining free of major chronic diseases, with good physical function, cognitive function, mental health, and active social participation.”

“This study provides us with even more evidence that sleep makes a huge difference in our lives,”Terry Cralle, MS, RN, CPHQ, a certified clinical sleep educator and spokesperson for the Better Sleep Council, told Verywell. “As such, sleep health needs to become a higher priority than it currently is. The state of our sleep warrants much higher consideration and attention to ensure successful aging.”

The findings were consistent with a previous study that found people sleeping less than six hours per night had a 48% lower chance of healthy aging than those who slept seven hours.

A key reason sleep is associated with healthy aging is that “consistent, adequate sleep supports virtually every aspect of our physical, emotional, and cognitive health,” saidMichelle Drerup, PsyD, director of behavioral sleep medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center.

Having consistent sleep can support optimal brain function, help maintain physical health and mobility, regulate mood, and boost immune function, Drerup explained.

While getting at least seven hours of sleep is important, recent research shows thatmaintaining a consistent sleep schedule might be even more crucial for overall health. Fragmented or irregular sleep might cause circadian rhythm disruptions, which have been linked to a higher risk of early death and heart disease.

Getting too little or too much sleep can harm your health as well, saidJohn Saito, MD, a board-certified sleep medicine specialist and pediatric pulmonologist at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County and spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Saito likened sleep to water, explaining that you need enough to stay healthy, but too much can be harmful. Striking the right balance, he said, can do wonders for your overall health.

Why a Good Night’s Sleep Is Important for Your Health

What This Means For YouPrioritizing consistent, quality sleep—between seven and eight hours per night—can significantly improve your chances of healthy aging. Research shows that adequate sleep supports physical, cognitive, and emotional health while reducing the risk of chronic diseases.

What This Means For You

Prioritizing consistent, quality sleep—between seven and eight hours per night—can significantly improve your chances of healthy aging. Research shows that adequate sleep supports physical, cognitive, and emotional health while reducing the risk of chronic diseases.

3 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Tian L, Ding P, Kuang X, Ai W, Shi H.The association between sleep duration trajectories and successful aging: a population-based cohort study.BMC Public Health. 2024;24(1):3029. doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20524-7Tian L, Ding P, Kuang X, Ai W, Shi H.The association between sleep duration trajectories and successful aging: a population-based cohort study.BMC Public Health. 2024;24(1):3029. doi:10.1186/s12889-024-20524-7Windred DP, Burns AC, Lane JM, et al.Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration: a prospective cohort study.Sleep. Published online September 21, 2023. doi:10.1093/sleep/zsad253

3 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Tian L, Ding P, Kuang X, Ai W, Shi H.The association between sleep duration trajectories and successful aging: a population-based cohort study.BMC Public Health. 2024;24(1):3029. doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20524-7Tian L, Ding P, Kuang X, Ai W, Shi H.The association between sleep duration trajectories and successful aging: a population-based cohort study.BMC Public Health. 2024;24(1):3029. doi:10.1186/s12889-024-20524-7Windred DP, Burns AC, Lane JM, et al.Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration: a prospective cohort study.Sleep. Published online September 21, 2023. doi:10.1093/sleep/zsad253

Tian L, Ding P, Kuang X, Ai W, Shi H.The association between sleep duration trajectories and successful aging: a population-based cohort study.BMC Public Health. 2024;24(1):3029. doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20524-7Tian L, Ding P, Kuang X, Ai W, Shi H.The association between sleep duration trajectories and successful aging: a population-based cohort study.BMC Public Health. 2024;24(1):3029. doi:10.1186/s12889-024-20524-7Windred DP, Burns AC, Lane JM, et al.Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration: a prospective cohort study.Sleep. Published online September 21, 2023. doi:10.1093/sleep/zsad253

Windred DP, Burns AC, Lane JM, et al.Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration: a prospective cohort study.Sleep. Published online September 21, 2023. doi:10.1093/sleep/zsad253

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What This Means For You#

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