Sleep Extension & Consistency

Sleep extension means deliberately scheduling more time in bed — and keeping wake and sleep times consistent — rather than treating sleep as whatever is left over.

What published research reports

The joint consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society (2015) states that adults should sleep seven or more hours per night on a regular basis for optimal health, and reports that habitual sleep below that is associated with weight gain, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, depression, impaired immune function and increased accident risk. It also notes that regularly sleeping more than nine hours may suit young adults, ill people and those repaying sleep debt, while uncertainty remains about routinely long sleep in others. Consistency matters in the published circadian literature because irregular schedules shift the body clock in the same way travel across time zones does.

References

• Watson NF, et al. Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Sleep. 2015;38(6):843–844. PubMed