A good night’s sleep is crucial to good health because researchers have found that too little sleep, and occasionally too much sleep, can negatively impact adults with asthma.
Previous research revealed that poor sleep quality has a negative effect on asthma symptoms in adolescents. “Our study shows that adults with asthma are equally affected by too little (or sometimes too much) sleep,” said study lead author Faith Luyster from the University of Pittsburgh in the US.
Compared to normal sleepers, short and long sleepers had a higher proportion of people who reported having an asthma attack in the past year (45 per cent vs. 59 per cent and 51 per cent respectively) and had more days with impaired health-related quality of life.
According to the researchers, impaired quality of life was characterised by more days of poor physical and mental health. For the findings, published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the research team surveyed 1,389 adults who were 20 years and older who self-identified as having asthma. A Of the group, 25.9 per cent slept 5 hours or less, 65.9 per cent slept 6-8 hours and 8.2 per cent slept 9 or more hours
Short sleepers were more likely to be younger and non-White, while normal sleepers were more likely to be older, female and a smoker. Short sleepers, as compared to normal sleepers, had a greater likelihood of an asthma attack, dry cough, and an overnight hospitalisation during the past year.
