Lack of sleep makes women grumpier

Women who don't get a good night's sleep grumpier than men who don't

Women who don't get a good night's sleep will, officially, be grumpier than men the next morning.

New research claims that women need far more sleep than their partners - and will be far grouchier if they don't get it.

'The study suggests that poor sleep - measured by the total amount of sleep, the degree of awakening during the night, and most importantly, how long it takes to get to sleep - may have more serious health consequences for women than for men,' explains Dr Edward Suarez, from Duke University in North Carolina, which carried out the study.

'We found that for women, poor sleep is strongly associated with high levels of psychological distress, and greater feelings of hostility, depression and anger.

'In contrast, these feelings were not associated with the same degree of sleep disruption in men.'

And it's not just a case of women feeling bleary-eyed and crotchety after a bad night's sleep; it could affect their health, too.

'The results were so dramatic that 33% of the women who were poor sleepers had protein levels associated with a high risk of heart disease,' adds Dr Suarez.

'Improvements in sleep as a means of reducing risk for cardiovascular disease may prove particularly important in women.'