If you burn the candle at both ends to squeeze some extra hours out of your days, you could be putting your body under enough stress to jeopardize your life.

CNN relays an analysis published in the European Heart Journal that found those who sleep less than six hours or suffer interrupted slumber have a greater risk of dying from heart disease or strokes.

The analysis compiled 15 sleep studies that included 475,000 adults from several countries, including the United States, for periods spanning between seven and 25 years.

Says one of the article’s co-authors, a professor at the UK’s University of Warwick Medical School:

The trend for late nights and early mornings is actually a ticking time bomb for our health so you need to act now to reduce your risk of developing these life-threatening conditions…. By ensuring you have about seven hours of sleep a night, you are protecting your future health and reducing the risk of developing chronic diseases. If you reduce your sleep below a certain level-five hours or less-you run into trouble. Not just tomorrow because you are tired, but you build up a steady risk of developing a chronic condition late in life. Sleep is not a commodity that can be traded off.

How much sleep do you aim for, and how little can you operate on?

Late nights, early mornings a ‘ticking time bomb’ for health [CNN]

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