Men who sleep poorly have a higher risk of cancer

Poor sleep has previously been linked to problems such as obesity, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and dementia.

And now, new research, published in the UK National Cancer Institute journal JNCI , has found that men who wake up for 30 minutes or more in the middle of the night have a 20% higher risk of developing prostate cancer, according to the Daily Mail.

It is the most common cancer in men and the second most deadly cancer in the world.

Experts at the US National Cancer Institute analysed data from more than 30,000 British men, who wore tracking devices to measure their movements at night and sleep disruptions.

None of the participants had prostate cancer at the start of the study.

During a follow-up period of approximately 7.6 years, 1,152 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The results found that men who woke up for 30 minutes or more in the middle of the night had a 15-20% higher risk of developing prostate cancer later in life.

And men who were awake for 60 minutes or more had an even higher risk of prostate cancer.

Researchers have found that disrupted sleep may be a major risk factor for disease onset.

But analysis found no link between staying up late and the disease, nor was difficulty falling asleep.

Scientists believe the danger comes from disruption of the circadian rhythm - the body's internal clock - which reduces levels of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin.

Previous studies have also linked sleep disruption to increased cancer risk.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer even lists sleep disruption as a "probable" carcinogen or cause of cancer, according to the Daily Mail.