Modern fitness trackers and smart watches have made it easier than ever to track the amount – and quality – of sleep you’re getting each night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Around one in three Britons struggle with poor sleep, with stress, smartphone use and irregular schedules all blamed for the growing problem<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n And while the risks of not getting enough sleep is well-documented, a new study has found that getting too much sleep could be just as harmful.<\/p>\n Scientists found people who slept fewer than six hours – or more than eight – showed signs of faster biological ageing. What’s more, the scientists say the ideal amount is around seven hours a night.<\/p>\n People who reported sleeping between 6.4 and 7.8 hours of sleep per night displayed fewer signs of ageing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ‘This does not mean that sleep duration alone causes organs to age faster or slower,’ says lead author Junhao Wen, assistant professor of radiology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ‘But it does suggest that both insufficient and excessive sleep may be markers of poorer overall health across the body.’<\/span><\/p>\n But what is ‘biological ageing’ and how can it be measured?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Scientists found people who slept fewer than six hours – or more than eight – showed signs of faster biological ageing<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Unlike chronological age, biological ageing refers to progressive decline in the body’s\u00a0physiological function, including the ability for cells to repair themselves,\u00a0increasing risk of disease and death.<\/span><\/p>\n Biological age measures the functional age of tissues and organs influenced by genetics, environment and lifestyle.<\/span><\/p>\n Using this metric,\u00a0r<\/span>esearchers from\u00a0Columbia University<\/a> Irving Medical Center in the US collected data from half a million participants in the UK Biobank and used artificial intelligence to determine signs of ageing in organs.\u00a0<\/p>\n The study,\u00a0published in\u00a0<\/span>the journal\u00a0<\/span>Nature<\/a>, used AI-powered \u2018ageing clocks\u2019 to measure wear and tear in organs.<\/p>\n Researchers gathered data\u00a0from medical images, organ-specific proteins and molecules found in blood in each organ.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘In the liver, for example, we have an ageing clock built with protein data, an ageing clock of metabolic data, and an ageing clock of imaging data,’ Wen says.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘This allows us to examine how sleep may affect ageing across different organs in the body.’<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/14\/12\/108605325-15817363-image-a-2_1778759299428.jpg\")
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