Insomnia And Increased Mortality Rates In Men

A study recently published in the journal Sleep noted an increased mortality risk in men who have insomnia with objective short sleep duration, and the risk is greater than previously estimated.

1,741 men and women randomly selected from central Pennsylvania were studied in the sleep laboratory and Pennsylvania State University and followed-up for 14 years. Insomnia was defined as subjects having a complaint of insomnia for at least a year. Additionally, subjects were divided into groups of “normal” or “short” sleep duration (more or less than six hours of sleep a night).

When adjusting for other health conditions, it was found that male insomnia sufferers in the “short” sleep duration group had a 21% higher mortality rate. Insomnia and short sleep was not associated with an increased mortality rate in women.

This research shows how important it is for people with insomnia, especially men, to get treatment for their condition.