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Irregular sleep linked to 22% higher mortality risk

08 Oct 2025

People with irregular sleep patterns that get less than the recommended seven hours of sleep per night face a 22% higher mortality risk than the general population, according to Discovery’s latest research. – (Business Day 8 October 2025)
“The findings were derived from a three-year analysis of 47m nights of anonymised sleep data, cross-referenced with exercise activity and health claims from 105,000 members of the Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS).”
To address this issue Discovery will be launching a personalised programme in 2026 aimed at “helping medical scheme members improve their sleep hygiene and, in turn, reduce their long-term healthcare costs”.

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