A study from June 2025 suggested there’s one issue that’s clearly linked to a whopping 172 diseases. Perhaps even scarier, it’s a common one: disrupted sleep patterns.

Researchers looked at more than 88,000 people’s data from the UK Biobank, a large-scale biomedical database in Britain, and found that poor sleep was associated with a higher risk of many conditions.

Before we go any further, it’s important to note that, as with many studies, these findings are possibilities – not confirmed facts. At the same time, they’re worth careful attention.

“This study is observational and doesn’t prove causation,” said Daniella Marchetti, a clinical psychologist specialising in behavioural sleep medicine. “Instead, the study shows that as sleep suffers, the likelihood of these diseases is also likely to increase in a way that is not coincidental.”

The 172 diseases affect a variety of bodily systems, including the metabolic, neurological, cardiovascular and respiratory systems. More specifically, researchers were looking at Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, kidney failure, liver diseases, heart disease, stroke, metabolic disorders, respiratory conditions and more.

Pretty extensive, right? Especially for something as common as poor sleep, which can stem from many everyday experiences: stress, blue light from screens, shift work, social media-related FOMO and more.

“In a world that never seems to switch off, sleep has become one of the most quietly endangered pillars of human health,” said Dr Martin L. Hopp, an otolaryngologist, head and neck surgeon who specialises in sleep apnoea diagnosis.

“Once regarded as a passive state of rest, sleep is now understood as a highly active biological process … Disrupted sleep patterns are increasingly common, and the health consequences are proving difficult to ignore.”

Ahead, sleep experts explain what disrupted sleep can look like, its causes, how it can lead to disease, and how to get better sleep.

What ‘disrupted sleep patterns’ can look like

“Disrupted sleep patterns” is just a fancy way of saying “sleep irregularities,” according to Marchetti. Maybe you

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