Sleeping may pills increase the chance of an early death

People who took drugs in a bid to get some shuteye had a 55 per cent higher risk of passing away early compared to those who get to sleep naturally - even if they were asleep for the same amount of time.

Life expectancy was shorter by 5.3 years in men and 5.7 years in women and the danger was more than double in sleeping pill users that spend over eight hours slumbering.

Yu Sun, who led the study for National Taiwan University, said: "Our results are staggering to say the least.

"Many people rely on sleeping pills to help them sleep, so it's a shock to find that taking them may more than double your mortality risk.

"We suggest avoiding using sleeping pills as a first-line of treatment for insomnia, and try other methods first."

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