Letter From the Editor-in-Chief: Is Worrying About Sleep Keeping Us Awake?

A recent study found that a lack of REM and deep sleep is linked to higher risks of dozens of diseases. Credit: Getty A new study analyzing wrist tracker data from 95,000 people found that higher amounts of REM and deep sleep were linked to a lower risk of 83 diseases combined, including dementia, hypertension, and Parkinson’s. Nearly 70% of Americans say anxiety disrupts their sleep – and for some, the sleep trackers meant to help may be making it worse, a phenomenon researchers call orthosomnia. Healthline’s Editor-in-Chief Robin Hough shares why he’s taking the data, leaving the anxiety, and still setting his alarm for a very insistent 8-year-old. As a busy, sleep-deprived, middle-aged father of two young kids, including an irrepressible 8 year old ball of energy who is, without fail, up and ready to take on the world at 6 o’clock every morning (usually with a steady stream of questions about dinosaurs, the natural world and the origins of the universe in his back pocket), do I really need another set of headlines informing me that not only am I falling short in getting the requisite 40 winks a night but I’m also at risk of 83 diseases into the bargain? Apparently, I do. Anothe…

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