People who sleep too little or too much are more likely to die sooner, even if they don’t have severe sleep apnea — which suggests that how long you sleep might be harmful all on its own.

People who sleep more, as measured by devices, tend to live longer and have fewer heart-related deaths—even those who sleep more than 8 hours don’t seem to be at higher risk.

People who say they sleep too little or too much are more likely to die from heart problems, but only those who actually sleep too little (measured by devices) show a clear link—so sleeping a lot might just mean you’re sick or your sleep is bad, not that you’re sleeping too much.

People who sleep too little (4 hours or less) or too much (more than 8 hours) tend to have a higher risk of dying from any cause or heart disease, while those who sleep 7 to 8 hours have the lowest risk—this might mean that how long you think you slept is more about your health problems or poor sleep quality than how well you actually rested.

People in this group who say they sleep 6 hours or less each night are more than twice as likely to die from any cause compared to those who sleep 6 to 9 hours—even if they have heart problems or sleep apnea.

People who sleep less than 7 hours a night are more likely to develop heart problems like heart attacks or irregular heartbeats than those who sleep 7 to 9 hours.