Getting too many sleepless nights can make you feel ten YEARS older, shock study suggests

SLEEPLESS nights can make you feel ten years older, research suggests.

Millions of people do not get as much shut-eye as they should — and it could age them by a decade.

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Not getting enough sleep can age you by 10 years, research has shown[/caption]

Experts asked 429 to rate how much younger or older they felt than their real age, and compared it to their sleep diary.

Those who got a good night’s kip every night for a month rated themselves 5.8 years younger, on average.

Analysis suggested every restless night in the month previous was equal to feeling three months older — with the most tired feeling they had added a decade to their life.

But bad sleepers consistently said they felt older than they were.

Study author Leonie Balter, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, said: “Our study demonstrates that sleep habits and sleepiness play a profound role in shaping our sense of age.

“Being extremely sleepy was associated with feeling ten years older.

“In our 30s and beyond, the discrepancy between how old we are and feel becomes more pronounced.”

She added that evidence suggests sleep deprivation speeds up biological ageing by damaging DNA.