A new study has found that taking sleeping pills regularly could reduce life span by nearly 6 years.
Research published in the Elsevier journal Sleep Health says that sleeping pill users have a shorter life expectancy than non-users. Men who used sleeping pills lived an average of 5.3 years less, while women lived 5.7 years less compared to non-users. The study also linked nighttime pill use to a higher cancer death rate.
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The researchers examined around 5 lakh people for two decades. People were surveyed on their sleep quality, how long they slept, and if they used sleeping pills.
The team found that people who did not use sleeping pills and regularly slept 6 to 8 hours a night had the lowest mortality risk compared to people who slept less than 4 hours and over 8 hours. It also found that people who slept 6 to 8 hours a night but took sleeping pills had a 55% higher mortality risk than non-users.
“Our results are staggering, to say the least. Many people rely on sleeping pills to help them sleep, so it’s a shock to find that taking them may more than double your mortality risk,” says Dr. Yu Sun, MD, Ph.D., a researcher at En Chu Kong Hospital in Taiwan who led the study, in a press release.
While the findings are concerning, researchers caution that the results are not definitive—many sleeping pill users have underlying health conditions that could also contribute to earlier mortality.
It’s always recommended to talk to a medical expert before you stop taking sleeping pills.
