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Men are advised to get more rest
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Scientists have found that men who limit their nightly rest are twice as likely to develop prostate cancer.
Those representatives of the strong half of humanity who sleep no more than five hours a day suffer from tumor processes in the prostate gland more than 50% more often. Those who sleep about six hours get sick almost twice as rarely - these are the figures shared by the researchers.
Adequate sleep is important for both well-being and overall health – and can sometimes even prolong life. Experts have calculated that men who, due to circumstances or other reasons, sleep little, have a good chance of developing prostate cancer over time.
Scientists examined more than eight hundred thousand representatives of the male population for 62 years, observing their lifestyle and health. None of the participants suffered from prostate diseases at the beginning of the experiment. As a result of the long-term study, which lasted from 1950 to 2012, an unambiguous conclusion was made: men under 65 who do not provide themselves with the optimal 7-8 hours of night rest, expose themselves to the risk of developing the most common oncological male disease.
Prostate cancer is a disease often diagnosed in men. Every year, at least twenty thousand men with such a diagnosis die in the world. Since the incidence of prostate cancer is very high, it is quite difficult to trace the primary factors that could cause this pathology. But it is necessary to do this, because knowledge of the cause determines whether medicine can provide high-quality disease prevention.
Experts representing the American Cancer Society have provided a number of pieces of evidence that simply following recommendations for the duration of nighttime rest can fundamentally affect the risk of developing tumor processes in the prostate gland. Although scientists do not deny that they will have to continue to conduct additional studies to clarify the biological mechanisms and links between the development of cancer and insufficient nighttime sleep.
Nevertheless, the results of the latest experiment are considered further evidence: the natural cycle of night rest in the human body – the so-called “circadian rhythm” – is of fundamental importance in terms of the development of prostate cancer. Insufficient rest and impaired recovery of the body’s strength lead to the “switching off” of genes that provide a kind of protection against cancerous cell changes, and also provoke a decrease in the production of melatonin – a hormonal substance that corrects the periodicity of sleep and wakefulness cycles. At the same time, the combination of poor night rest with intense physical and mental stress during the daytime causes even greater damage to health.
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