The Healthspan Map · Sleep (Ch6)
Sleep regularity
What this is linked to
| Nutrient or lever | Direction | Strength | Evidence type | What was found | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Emerging | Cohort / observational | Irregular/disturbed sleep patterns contribute to the daytime dysfunction linked to falls. | Sleep & falls longitudinal study (SWAN, PMC11688990) (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Moderate | Systematic review | Sleep deprivation impairs attention and working memory; 7-8 h is optimal for cognition. | Sleep-cognition overview 2023 (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Moderate | Cohort / observational | Circadian misalignment blunts daytime alertness; realigning the sleep-wake schedule and light timing restores next-day energy. | Morning light & sleep/alertness field study (PubMed 36058557) (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Moderate | RCT / meta-analysis | Insomnia roughly doubles the risk of developing depression (OR 2.60); a core modifiable risk factor. | Baglioni et al. 2011 (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Moderate | RCT / meta-analysis | Irregular sleep is a major migraine trigger; consistent sleep-wake schedules are a cornerstone of prevention. | Robblee & Starling 2019, Cleveland Clinic J Med; lifestyle-migraine meta 2024 (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Moderate | Review / narrative | Irregular sleep is a major migraine trigger; consistent sleep-wake schedules are a cornerstone of prevention. | Robblee & Starling, "SEEDS for success: Lifestyle management in migraine", Cleve Clin J Med 2019 (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Emerging | RCT / meta-analysis | Irregular and disturbed sleep patterns are linked to higher blood pressure. | Sleep/insomnia & hypertension meta (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Moderate | RCT / meta-analysis | Irregular sleep timing / social jetlag is associated with ~23% higher odds of overweight/obesity via circadian misalignment. | "Association Between Social Jetlag and Components of Metabolic Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis", 2024 (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Emerging | Review / narrative | Circadian regularity supports the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal rhythm; disrupted schedules relate to poorer reproductive-hormone profiles. | Sleep & men’s health (PMC7108988) (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Emerging | Cohort / observational | Disturbed/irregular sleep contributes to the impaired immune response linked to upper-respiratory infection. | Physical activity, sleep & respiratory infections (Swedish cohort, PLOS One 2018) (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Emerging | Review / narrative | The skin has its own circadian system; disruption impairs barrier function and repair. | Skin circadian clock (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Moderate | Systematic review | Night-shift/circadian disruption is associated with elevated TSH and higher rates of subclinical hypothyroidism — the clearest sleep-timing link to thyroid. | Shift-work & thyroid systematic review (PMC7084223) (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Emerging | Cohort / observational | Irregular, disturbed sleep patterns track with worse tinnitus - emerging. | Tinnitus & sleep (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Moderate | RCT / meta-analysis | Irregular sleep and circadian misalignment (evening chronotype, shift work) raise diabetes risk independent of sleep length. | Sleep features & T2D meta (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Emerging | Review / narrative | Circadian/sleep disruption is an emerging contributor to retinal and optic-nerve disease alongside sleep-disordered breathing. | Sleep & eye disease review (PMC9544516) (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Moderate | Cohort / observational | Irregular/short sleep and circadian disruption raise CRP and impair antibody responses. | Circadian rhythm & immunity (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Moderate | Cohort / observational | Irregular sleep-wake timing is associated with metabolic abnormalities and glycemic dysregulation. | Sleep-regularity and metabolic literature (MESA; UK Biobank) (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Moderate | Cohort / observational | Each 1-hour increase in night-to-night sleep-duration variability raised major cardiovascular events 19% (myocardial infarction 23%, stroke 17%). | Huang et al., UK Biobank (accelerometer, n=86,219) (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Moderate | Cohort / observational | Greater sleep regularity (Sleep Regularity Index) was associated with lower all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality; regularity predicted mortality more strongly than duration. | Cribb et al., eLife 2023 (UK Biobank, n=88,975) (opens in a new tab) |
| Sleep regularity | Watch this | Emerging | Cohort / observational | Irregular sleep patterns are associated with poorer cognitive and academic performance. | Circadian-disruption / performance literature (opens in a new tab) |