One of the joys of adulthood is being able to go to bed whenever you want. But new research is making the case for viewing a consistent bedtime as non-negotiable for your health as getting in seven-plus hours.
The study, which was published in the journal BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, found that keeping irregular bedtimes dramatically raises the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke.
There’s no need to panic if you stay up late here and there to catch up with friends or your Netflix list. But doctors say this is important information to take into account if your bedtime is consistently all over the map. Here’s why.
The study found an important link between irregular bedtimes and serious heart health issues.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from 3,321 people from a long-term study in Finland. The participants wore accelerometers (movement trackers) starting from 2012 to 2014 up to 2023. The researchers looked at the participants’ sleep timing, bedtime consistency, and when they woke up, among other things.
The researchers discovered that 4% of the study participants experienced a major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) like heart attack, stroke, hospitalization for heart failure, or death from a cardiovascular reason during the study period. In people who slept less than the median amount of the group, which was nearly eight hours, having an irregular bedtime was linked to double the risk of a major cardiovascular event.
“Among the participants with sleep durations under eight hours, irregular sleep timing was a significant risk factor for MACEs,” the researchers wrote in the study’s conclusion. “These findings highlight the importance of consistent sleep behavior, particularly regular bedtimes, as a potential target for health promotion.”
Research suggests that about 40% of American adults don’t even get the recommended seven-plus hours of sleep a night, making this information plenty of people can use. A recent Gallup poll suggests that only 26% of Americans get eight or more hours of sleep each night.
A growing body of research has focused on sleep irregularity.
For years, researchers have zeroed in on how much sleep people consistently get at night. But there’s been a rise in research that finds variation between how much sleep you get from night to night matters, too.
One 2025 study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association linked inconsistent sleep patterns with “consistently higher risks” for major cardiovascular disease events like heart attack and stroke.
On the flip side, a 2023 study published in the journal Sleep linked consistent bedtimes and wake times with a 48% lower risk of dying from any cause during the nearly eight-year study period. “Sleep regularity may be a simple, effective target for improving general health and survival,” the researchers wrote in the conclusion.
There are likely a few things behind this.
The study didn’t dive into why there’s an association between irregular bedtimes and a higher risk of cardiovascular events—it just found a link. Still, doctors have a few theories.
One is that thi