Lots or Little Sleep Linked to Sick Days

This is Scientific American 60-Second Mind, I'm Christie Nicholson. Got a minute?
Shakespeare called sleep the chief nourisher in life's feast.
But today we know it's so much more.
Insufficient sleep contributes to the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.
And now a study finds that too little or too much sleep are both associated with a significant increase in sick days away from work.
Almost 4,000 men and women between the age of 30 and 64,participated in the study, which followed them for seven years.
The research revealed that the absence from work due to illness increased dramatically for those who said they slept less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours per night.
The sleep time that was associated with the lowest number of sick days was 7 hours 38 minutes for women and 7 hours 46 minutes for men.
The study is in the journal Sleep.
Of course these findings are associative and not necessarily causal.
Other factors may be responsible for the under or oversleeping to begin with.
But sleep patterns are still a warning sign for increased illness and health complications.
Shakespeare put it best: Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care.
Thanks for the minute, for Scientific American 60-Second Mind. I'm Christie Nicholson.