New US research has found that getting too little or too much sleep could have a negative impact on asthma among adults suffering from the condition.
The researchers found that 25.9% of participants were “short” sleepers and reported only getting five hours of sleep or less per night; 65.9% were “normal” sleepers and got six to eight hours per night; and 8.2% were defined as “long” sleepers and slept for nine or more hours every night. Long sleepers were also more likely to need to limit their activities due to wheezing, compared to normal sleepers, although no other significant differences were found between the two groups.
“Previous research revealed that poor sleep quality has a negative effect on asthma symptoms in adolescents,” says Faith Luyster, PhD, lead author of the study.“Our study shows that adults with asthma are equally affected by too little sleep. Compared to normal sleepers, short and long sleepers had a higher proportion of people who reported having an asthma attack in the past year and had more days with impaired health-related quality of life.