Irregular Sleep Patterns Boost Disease Risks Significantly.

In 2025, Yimeng Wang and team from Peking University studied 88,461 UK Biobank adults who wore wrist trackers for a week, followed for 6.8 years. They checked six sleep traits, like consistent bedtimes and steady rhythms, against 172 diseases, adjusting for age, diet, and lifestyle.

Bad sleep habits were linked to serious health issues: 92 diseases had over 20% of their risk tied to poor sleep. For example, going to bed after 12:30 AM doubled liver cirrhosis risk (2.57 times), and unstable sleep patterns raised gangrene risk (2.61 times). Unlike self-reports, long sleep (≥9 hours) wasn’t harmful when measured accurately, as people often confuse time in bed with actual sleep.

Stick to a regular sleep routine to cut your risk of serious illnesses.