不久前，科研人員研究發現一些睡眠時間不足與早逝之間存在聯系的確切證據。研究人員表示，每天睡眠時間不足6小時將增加早逝風險。 People who sleep fewer than six hours a night are more likely to die early, researchers have found in a study they claim provides 'unequivocal evidence' of a link between sleep deprivation and premature death.

研究發現，與夜晚睡眠6至8小時的人相比，夜晚睡眠不足6小時的人在65歲之前早逝的可能性較前者高出12%。 They discovered that people who slept for less than six hours each night were 12 per cent more likely to die prematurely - before the age of 65 - than those who slept the recommended six to eight hours a night.

由英國華威大學和意大利那不勒斯市的費德里克二世大學聯合組成的研究團隊在分析了16個研究項目之后得出了以上結論。項目共涉及130萬人。 The team from the University of Warwick and Federico II University Medical School in Naples analysed 16 studies involving a total of 1.3 million people before reaching their conclusions.

研究人員指出，此前的研究顯示，睡眠不足與心臟病、高血壓、肥胖、Ⅱ型糖尿病和高膽固醇有關聯。 They pointed out that previous studies had shown that sleep deprivation was associated with heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol.

但除此之外，研究人員還發現睡眠與早逝之間也存在莫大關系。 However, the researchers also found that sleeping too much was linked to an early death.

那些夜晚睡眠時間超過9小時的人早逝的可能性增加30%。研究刊登在《睡眠》周刊上。 Those who slept for more than nine hours a night were 30 per cent more likely to die early, the research published in the journal Sleep found.

然而，上周《睡眠》周刊上一篇研究報告的結論則與之背道而馳，該報告則稱，夜晚睡眠10小時甚至更長的人更有可能活到100歲。 That directly contradicts research published in the same journal last week which suggested that people who slept for ten hours or longer a night were more likely to live to 100.

這種結論的根據在于，長壽者身體健康，睡得更香。 This was thought to be because people who lived into extreme old age were healthier and therefore slept better.

然而，參與最新研究的專家并不認同這種觀點。他們認為，睡眠過長是潛在疾病的征兆，比如抑郁或體力下降，一些癌癥也與睡眠過長有關。 However, the authors of the latest research contradicted this and suggested that long sleep was a sign of underlying illnesses such as depression and low levels of physical activity. Some cancer is also associated with sleeping for longer.

華威大學睡眠、健康和社會項目負責人佛朗西斯科·卡帕斯奧教授說：“睡眠過短可能是疾病產生的原因，但睡眠過長卻更有可能是存在疾病的指示器。” Professor Francesco Cappuccio, leader of the Sleep, Health and Society Programme at the University of Warwick and Consultant Physician at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, said: "Whilst short sleep may represent a cause of ill-health, long sleep is believed to represent more an indicator of ill-health.

“在現代社會，人們的平均睡眠時間逐漸縮短，這種情況在全職工作人員身上更常見，這可能歸因于長時間工作和輪班所形成的社會壓力。另一方面，我們的健康狀況惡化常常伴隨著睡眠時間的延長。” "Modern society has seen a gradual reduction in the average amount of sleep people take, and this pattern is more common among full-time workers, suggesting that it may be due to societal pressures for longer working hours and more shift-work. On the other hand, the deterioration of our health status is often accompanied by an extension of our sleeping time.

“長期堅持每晚睡眠6至8小時可能最有益于健康。持續睡眠時間的長短應被視為另外一種行為風險因素，或者風險標志。它受環境影響，可能通過教育、輔導以及改善工作環境等提高公眾健康水平的途徑而被改變。” "Consistently sleeping six to eight hours per night may be optimal for health. The duration of sleep should be regarded as an additional behavioural risk factor, or risk marker, influenced by the environment and possibly amenable to change through both education and counselling as well as through measures of public health aimed at favourable modifications of the physical and working environments."