How much sleep is too much or too little? A panel of medical specialists and researchers, funded in part by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hopes to find a more definitive answer to that question, according to a story published by The Wall Street Journal.
Experts tapped by the CDC, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society will develop new recommendations for optimal sleep based on a review of the latest scientific literature on the subject. The recommendations reportedly will take into account issues such as gender and age.
“Several sleep studies have found that seven hours is the optimal amount of sleep—not eight, as was long believed—when it comes to certain cognitive and health markers, although many doctors question that conclusion,” the Journal reported.
In related news, the National Sleep Foundation, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, also has assembled an expert panel to provide updated guidelines for sleep, the Journal reported.
