Good Sleep Habits May Add Years to Your Life. Research Highlights Sleep’s Growing Role in Healthy Aging
Skimping on rest may cost more than a groggy morning. A growing body of research suggests that consistent, high-quality sleep is one of the strongest predictors of how long you live, on par with diet and exercise, and second only to not smoking in some analyses. Two major studies, one published in 2023 and another in 2025, quantify the payoff in years of life expectancy and offer a road map for the habits that matter most.
The findings have particular weight for women, who researchers say are often underdiagnosed for sleep disorders that quietly erode long-term health.
What the 2023 Sleep and Longevity Study Found
A 2023 study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology analyzed data from 172,321 participants in the National Health Interview Survey (1997-2018), linked to National Death Index records through December 31, 2019. Researchers Haibin Li and Frank Qian built a “low-risk” sleep pattern score using five factors and tracked mortality across a median follow-up of 4.3 years, during which 8,681 participants died from any cause.
The five low-risk sleep factors researchers identified are as follows.
- Sleep duration of seven-eight hours per day
- Difficulty falling asleep no more than twice a week
- Trouble staying asleep on no more than two nights weekly
- No use of sleep medication
- Waking feeling rested at least five days a week
Participants who hit all five factors had a hazard ratio of 0.70 for all-cause mortality compared with those who met zero or one. Their risk of cardiovascular death dropped by 14%, cancer death by 19%, and non-CVD, non-cancer death by 40%.
How Much Extra Life Sleep Could Add for Women and Men
The life expectancy math is where the study becomes personal. Researchers estimated that a 30-year-old with all five low-risk sleep factors could expect to live 4.7 years longer if male and 2.4 years longer if female than someone with zero or one low-risk factor.
The gender gap surprised many observers, and researchers pointed to a diagnostic blind spot as one likely explanation. Sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, told CNN that obstructive sleep apnea, a condition in which breathing repeatedly stops during sleep, can be harder to spot in women.
“Women with obstructive sleep apnea often get underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed because they may not present with the classic symptoms that we see when we’re evaluating men,” Dasgupta said. “Maybe we need to ask different questions or look at different parameters, or is there something we’re missing here?”
As sleep apnea severity rises, so does the risk of coronary artery disease, heart attacks, heart failure and stroke.
Why Quality of Sleep Matters as Much as Quantity
Getting eight hours in bed does not automatically translate to eight hours of restorative sleep, a distinction the 2023 researchers emphasized. Qian, an internal medicine resident physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said in a statement that the results showed a clear dose-response relationship, meaning the more low-risk sleep factors a person had, the lower their all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
“I think these findings emphasize that just getting enough hours of sleep isn’t sufficient,” Qian said. “You really have to have restful sleep and not have much trouble falling and staying asleep.”
Qian also urged younger adults not to postpone the habit shift. “Even from a young age, if people can develop these good sleep habits of getting enough sleep, making sure they are sleeping without too many distractions and have good sleep hygiene overall, it can greatly benefit their overall long-term health,” he said. “It’s important for younger people to understand that a lot of health behaviors are cumulative over time. Just like we like to say, ‘it’s never too late to exercise or stop smoking,’ it’s also never too early.”
Dasgupta added that regularity, going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, is a piece of the puzzle that often gets overlooked. “Recent studies have shown irregularity in sleep timing and duration have been linked to metabolic abnormalities and higher cardiovascular disease risk,” he said. “Encouraging maintenance of regular sleep schedules with consistent sleep durations may be an important part of lifestyle recommendations for the prevention of heart disease.”
What Other Recent Sleep Research Reveals
A study published in 2025 reinforced and expanded on the earlier findings, using CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from 2019 to 2025 to test the county-level association between insufficient sleep and life expectancy.
The researchers found that insufficient sleep was significantly negatively correlated with life expectancy in most states across that time frame, meaning lower sleep insufficiency meant longer life expectancy. The link held even after controlling for traditional predictors of mortality, with only smoking showing a stronger association.
“I didn’t expect it to be so strongly correlated to life expectancy,” said senior author Andrew McHill, Ph.D., an associate professor at the OHSU School of Nursing, OHSU School of Medicine and OHSU’s Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences. “We’ve always thought sleep is important, but this research really drives that point home. People really should strive to get seven to nine hours of sleep if at all possible.”
McHill said the strength of the association was striking even to him. “This research shows that we need to prioritize sleep at least as much as we do to what we eat or how we exercise. Sometimes, we think of sleep as something we can set aside and maybe put off until later or on the weekend. Getting a good night’s sleep will improve how you feel but also how long you live.”
How to Improve Your Sleep, According to the CDC
Building a low-risk sleep pattern does not require a lab or a prescription. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a set of everyday habits that align closely with the factors the 2023 researchers measured.
- Keep a consistent bedtime and wake time daily
- Keep your bedroom quiet, relaxing and at a cool temperature
- Turn off electronic devices at least 30 minutes before bedtime
- Avoid large meals and alcohol before bedtime
- Avoid caffeine in the afternoon or evening
- Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet
The takeaway from both studies is the same. Sleep is not a luxury to be recouped on weekends. It is a daily investment in how long, and how well, you live.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
