This is how many hours sleep you need to get each night to reduce your risk of heart disease
WHEN it comes to how long we should sleep there is all sorts of advice out there.
But new research has uncovered that getting the right amount of hours is more important than you might think - it could protect your from heart disease.
Equally, if you get too little or too much you are also more at risk of heart disease.
So what is the perfect amount?
Sleeping anywhere between six to eight hours a night is the optimum number to protect your heart, according to research presented to the European Society of Cardiology.
Sleeping less than that increases your risk of heart disease by 11 per cent, and sleeping more increases your risk of heart problems by 33 per cent.
Lead author Dr Epameinondas Fountas, of the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Centre in Athens, said: "Our findings suggest that too much or too little sleep may be bad for the heart.
"More research is needed to clarify exactly why, but we do know that sleep influences biological processes like glucose metabolism, blood pressure, and inflammation - all of which have an impact on cardiovascular disease.
"Having the odd short night or lie-in is unlikely to be detrimental to health, but evidence is accumulating that prolonged nightly sleep deprivation or excessive sleeping should be avoided.
"The good news is that there are plenty of ways to get into the habit of getting six to eight hours a night - for example by going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, avoiding alcohol and caffeine before bed, eating healthily, and being physically active.
"Getting the right amount of sleep is an important part of a healthy lifestyle."
A second study, also presented to the European Society of Cardiology, had similar findings.
Experts from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden found men who sleep five hours or less every night were twice as likely to suffer heart problems over a 20 year period than men who slept for eight hours.
MORE ON SLEEP
Ms Moa Bengtsson and her team followed 798 men for 21 years and found those who slept less suffered higher rates of heart attack, stroke, hospitalisation due to heart failure, coronary revascularisation, or death from cardiovascular disease.
That's because high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, current smoking, low physical activity, and poor sleep quality were more common in men who slept five or fewer hours per night compared to those who got seven to eight hours.
Last week scientists from Manchester, Leeds University and the University of East Anglia found those who slept for more than eight hours would increase the risk of heart disease by 44 per cent.
Some studies have previously suggested that the problem with long sleep is the prolonged inactivity that goes with it.
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