Less Than 7 Hours of Sleep Is a Health Risk

“Elaph” – A medical and strategic study conducted by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and published in the journal SLEEP Advances has revealed a direct and stringent link between sleep deprivation and its danger to health, indicating that obtaining less than seven hours of sleep per night poses a health risk that outweighs traditional lifestyle factors such as diet and physical inactivity.

The scientific team, led by Andrew McHill, Associate Professor of Sleep Physiology, relied on analyzing data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) surveys between 2019 and 2025 across all U.S. states.

The results showed that states with high proportions of adults sleeping less than seven hours exhibit a clear and exceptionally consistent annual decline in life expectancy.

In the primary analytical model, insufficient sleep emerged as a sharp negative association, second only to smoking in the strength of its direct impact. Even when complex health variables such as obesity and diabetes were added to the expanded model, the effect of sleep deprivation remained dominant and persistent as an explanatory factor for reduced life expectancy, alongside smoking and obesity.

These field findings align with the recommendations of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, which emphasize the need to target a consistent rest period of seven to nine hours to ensure the protection of vital functions related to cardiac safety, immunity, and neurological and brain performance.

Although the study relies on observation and statistical comparison, which precludes definitive proof of sole direct causality, the researchers stress that reducing sleep hours is no longer a marginal behavior that can be compensated for later, but rather a fundamental biological necessity for protecting life expectancy and avoiding chronic diseases.