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Cancer Risk Increases With Lack Of Sleep

Posted on: Wednesday, 19 November 2008, 08:50 CST

Adequate sleep could mean reducing a woman’s risk of cancer, according to U.S. researchers.

"We think it's quite interesting and intriguing. It's kind of a first look into this. It isn't something that has been widely studied," said James McClain of the National Cancer Institute, part of the U.S. government's National Institutes of Health.

Researchers studied 5,968 women in Maryland and found people who engage in regular exercise are less likely to develop cancer.

However, they found an exception to the exercise rule.

When researchers looked at the women ages 18 to 65 who were in the upper half in terms of the amount of physical exercise they got per week, they found that sleep played an important role in cancer risk.

Women who slept less than seven hours nightly had a 47 percent higher risk of cancer than those who got more sleep.

The findings were reported at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

McClain, who led the study, said he’s not sure why getting too little sleep can make someone more susceptible to cancer.

"Getting adequate sleep has been long associated with health," McClain said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls sleep loss an under-recognized public health problem, saying Americans are getting less and less of it.

The CDC said the percentage of adults who slept six hours or less a night increased from 1985 to 2006.

Obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, cardiovascular disease, depression, cigarette smoking and excessive drinking are all linked with sleep loss.

Other research proved people who get regular exercise have a reduced risk of breast, colon and other types of cancer.

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On the Net:

• National Cancer Institute
• American Association for Cancer Research

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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