stay healthy...live well! Your guide to research that matters and solutions that work.

Women who regularly sleep less than 6 hours a night have a 10 percent greater risk of breast cancer compared with those who always sleep 7 or 8 hours per night.

The usual prescription for a healthy lifestyle includes a healthy diet, regular exercise, and a daily multi-vitamin. But there’s another critical element that often gets overlooked: Sleep. We are a nation of under-sleepers. Most American adults report that they get 6 hours of sleep or less on most nights. Experts recommend a minimum of 7 to 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. And a new study underlines just how important sleep is to your health and longevity.

The link between stress and disease is well-documented. The hormones that your body produces in response to physical and emotional stress lower your resistance to disease, damage your organs and blood vessels, and accelerate the aging process. It’s not just an expression: Too much stress really can turn your hair grey or take years off your life.

Not as widely known is the fact that your body experiences a lack of sleep as stress. A couple of years ago, there was an interesting study at the University of Chicago that measured the effects of sleep deprivation on college students. After just a few nights of sleeping 4 hours a night, these young men in their 20s had hormone profiles typical of 60-year-olds!

Now, a new study out of Finland puts an even sharper point on the issue. The study analyzed sleep patterns in a large group of women over the course of many years. They found that women who regularly slept less than 6 hours a night had a 10 percent greater risk of breast cancer compared with those who always slept 7 or 8 hours per night. And the women who got the most sleep (more than 8 hours) had a significant 72% reduction in breast cancer rates!

As with chronic stress, chronic sleep deprivation suppresses immune function, which increases the possibility that malignant cells will proliferate. The researchers also theorize that hormones released when we sleep (such as melatonin) are protective against cancer. Long, regular sleep encourages melatonin production, as does sleeping in a darkened room.

You can “catch up” on lost sleep to a certain extent. After just a few days of resuming regular sleeping patterns, for example, the hormone levels of the college students at the University of Chicago had just about returned to normal. But the strongest benefits--such as the dramatic reduction in breast cancer rates--come to those who consistently get sufficient, quality sleep.

If you are taking good care of your health in every other way, don’t cheat yourself on a good night’s sleep. If you think you don’t have time to get more sleep, just think of how much more you will be able to accomplish when your body and brain are fully rested and energized. Stop thinking of sleep as a luxury and start thinking of it as an essential part of your prescription for a long and healthy life.

For more information on how to improve the quality of your sleep:

Sleep Net: Tips for Healthy Sleep

WebMD: Ten Tips for Better Sleep

Sources: Verkasalo PK, Lillberg K, et al. Sleep duration and breast cancer: a prospective cohort study.Cancer Res. 2005 Oct 15;65(20):9595-600. Link to study