Chinese scientists at Guangzhou Medical University have found a way to reduce the negative effects of lack of sleep. The researchers concluded that exercise reduced the risk of early death caused by lack of sleep. The results of the work are published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (EJPC).

The authors looked at data from 92,000 people aged 40 to 73 who were asked to wear an accelerometer bracelet. During the seven years of follow-up, 3,080 participants died: 1,074 from cardiovascular disease and 1,871 from cancer.

The duration of sleep of the subjects was classified into three options: short (less than six hours), normal (from six to eight hours) or long (more than eight hours). The level of physical activity was also divided into low, medium and high. In addition, the degree of intensity of sports activities was taken into account - from moderate to intense.

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After adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, deprivation, education level, body mass index, diet, smoking, alcohol use, and work schedule, the researchers found that exercise neutralized the negative effects of too little or too much sleep.

In low-activity individuals, short and long naps were associated with a 16 percent and 37 percent increased risk of all-cause death, respectively. The subjects who did an average amount of exercise only suffered when they weren't getting enough sleep, increasing their chances of dying prematurely by 41 percent. No relationship between early death and exercise was found in those who exercised a lot.

The risk of cardiovascular disease and death from them in people with short sleep and low exercise was increased by 69 percent. At the same time, the risk was leveled in the case of an increase in physical activity to a moderate or high level. The chance of dying from cancer increased by 21 percent for people who slept long hours with low physical activity, but it also disappeared with moderate or vigorous exercise.