What are the effects of sleeping pills about longevity? More than five years shorter life expectancy for those on sleeping pills than for those who don’t. The shocking news is contained in an extensive analysis that processed data on nearly half a million people. The risk of premature death rises in percentage terms by 55 percent. You can read the results of the study in the scientific journal Sleep Health.
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What is the situation of the use of sleeping pills in Italy?
In Italy, 20% of the adult population claims to have problems with sleeping at night. At least 10% take sleeping pills. The figure is underestimated, because it is thought that many take hypnotics or sedatives using the do-it-yourself method. Experts argue that theinsomnia is a real disease and not just a symptom of other conditions.
Effects of sleeping pills: Research compared data from nearly half a million people
Researchers at the University of Taiwan have put the data on the death rates and life expectancy of 484,916 people under a magnifying glass. Only a fraction of them took sleeping pills. Experts subjected them to numerous routine clinical tests to understand their state of health. All had to fill out a detailed questionnaire on the length of their night’s rest and its quality. Of course, those who took sleeping pills had to indicate the name of the drug.
The 4 categories of rest
Experts then divided the participants according to how long they slept:
- extremely short if it lasted less than four hours,
- short, between 4 and 6 hours,
- medium between 6 and 8,
- longer than 8 hours.
Effects of sleeping pills: how many hours are ideal?
Once they had gathered all the information they needed, the experts from Taiwan University compared data on the death rates and life expectancy of the people involved based on the number of hours they rested and the quality of rest.
The results left no room for doubt. The lucky ones belong to the category that sleeps between 6 and 8 hours without the need to take sleeping pills. After all, already many studies have shown that this is the ideal range of sleep hours for adults.
The surprise of the experts on the effects of sleeping pills on life expectancy
The real surprise for the researchers was to discover that even if people sleep between six and eight hours taking sleeping pills, their risk of premature death is 55% higher than those who do not consume these drugs. The consequences on life expectancy are direct. On average, men taking these medicines live 5.3 years less, women 5.7 years.
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