by Sleeping too little or too much has been linked to a shorter lifespan, but scientists have found that physical activity can counteract some of these negative effects. The study included 92,221 adults aged 40 to 73 in the UK Biobank who wore accelerometer wristbands for one week between 2013 and 2015. Nightly sleep duration is divided into short (less than 6 hours), normal (6-8 hours) and long (more than 8 hours). The total amount of physical activity was classified as low, medium, or high. The mean age of participants was 62 years, and 56% were women. During a mean follow-up of 7 years, 3080 participants died, 1074 from cardiovascular disease and 1871 from cancer. The researchers found that sleep duration was not associated with risk of death in the physically active group. For cardiovascular disease death, those with low activity and short sleep duration had a 69 percent increased risk, which disappeared when activity was increased to moderate or high activity. In terms of death from cancer, people who slept more and exercised less had a 21 percent increased risk, a risk that disappeared after moderate or heavy exercise.
