Behind The Mic With Joe Mathieu: Too Much Sleep Can Kill You

BOSTON (CBS) - This may be the only health study that will ever make me feel healthier.

We're told all the time that getting too little sleep is bad for you. Gives you heart trouble, diabetes and anxiety. Makes you fat and can kill you. Which means most of us are on borrowed time.

This new study of 50,000 people over 45 years old confirms all of that.

But it also finds health risks are actually worse in people who sleep too much.

The research by the Centers for Disease Control and published in Sleep Magazine finds almost a third of people get six hours of sleep or less. They're called short sleepers.

Two thirds were optimal sleepers, meaning they get seven to nine hours a night and are healthier for it.

But then researchers discovered this rare breed of people who actually get over ten hours a night. Despite how great that might sound those long sleepers were found to be at the greatest risk for health problems.

Only about two-percent of people are said to get that much sleep and the fact is we are not much better off than they are. Among the problems associated with people on both ends of the spectrum is bad mental health.

I will try not to read too far into that. Though it might explain a lot about some of the people in your office.

Follow Joe on Twitter @joemathieuwbz