Submitted by Matthew Edlund, Sep 27, 2007 08:47

Sleep matters, but so does rest. The new study by Cappuccio and colleagues of British civil servants pointing out sleeping less or sleeping more is associated with greater death is not a new finding.
Americans have knocked off about 90 minutes of sleep in the last forty years. We've also seen major increases in obesity, diabetes, and depression over the same time. The data showing sleep loss results in weight gain is stronger than the data on sleep and death.
What's really decreased in the US is rest. The effects on quality and life and overall productivity are probably far more direct than on mortality. Integrating food, activity, and rest probably makes the biggest difference to survival - and pleasure.
That may be why the longest lived populations on earth live in Metro New York. Asian American women are averaging 91.1 years and 95.6 in respectively, in Bergen and Suffolk Counties.
Living the same way, It might even be possible in Manhattan.

Matthew Edlund M.D.
Center for Circadian Medicine

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