Two Nights of Broken Sleep Can Make People Feel Years Older, Finds Study

Two nights of broken sleep are enough to make people feel years older, according to researchers, who said consistent, restful slumber was a key factor in helping to stave off feeling one's true age. From a report: Psychologists in Sweden found that, on average, volunteers felt more than four years older when they were restricted to only four hours of sleep for two consecutive nights, with some claiming the sleepiness made them feel decades older. The opposite was seen when people were allowed to stay in bed for nine hours, though the effect was more modest, with participants in the study claiming to feel on average three months younger than their real age after ample rest.

'Sleep has a major impact on how old you feel and it's not only your long-term sleep patterns,' said Dr Leonie Balter, a psychoneuroimmunologist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and first author on the study. 'Even when you only sleep less for two nights that has a real impact on how you feel.' Beyond simply feeling more decrepit, the perception of being many years older may affect people's health, Balter said, by encouraging unhealthy eating, reducing physical exercise, and making people less willing to socialise and engage in new experiences.

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