American research has indicated teenagers with beds they are struggling to sleep in could be more at risk of developing drug problems in later life.The work from the University of California in San Diego discovered teenagers who slept less than seven hours per night were more likely to smoke cannabis and have behavioural issues.Research also showed friends have a big impact on young people, with 11 per cent of those having sleep issues also having companions who have similar late-night activities and mirroring results discovered with cannabis use.Sara Mednick, assistant psychiatry professor on the study, said: "It really means that we're all connected. All of our behaviours lead to other behaviours and when we think about treating one issue in isolation, we're missing the point that treating an entire milieu is probably more effective."Many people are not sleeping enough and so finding they develop health problems, according to recent comments from Dr Mohammed Pathan, of St Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, in the Catholic Review.
Return to Latest News