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Under- and over-sleeping are both linked with chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity, according to a new study.

The research, published in the journal SLEEP, shows an association between sleeping six hours or fewer or 10 hours or more a night with an increased prevalence of chronic conditions, among people ages 45 and older.

"Sleeping longer doesn't necessarily mean you're sleeping well. It is important to understand that both the quality and quantity of sleep impact your health," study researcher Janet B. Croft, Ph.D., a senior chronic disease epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Population Health, said in a statement. "A healthy, balanced lifestyle is not limited to diet and fitness; when and how you sleep is just as important as what you eat or how you exercise."

For the study, researchers looked at sleep duration and prevalence of chronic health conditions among 54,269 adults ages 45 and older who were part of the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. Around 31 percent of the people in the study reported getting six or fewer hours of sleep a night, 64.8 percent reported getting seven to nine hours a night, and 4.1 percent reported getting 10 or more hours of sleep a night.

Researchers found that getting six or fewer or 10 or more hours of sleep a night was linked with obesity, frequent mental distress, stroke, diabetes and heart disease, even after taking into account other potential risk factors.

"Further prospective studies are needed to determine how mental health and maintenance of a normal weight may interact with sleep duration to prevent chronic diseases," researchers wrote in the study.

This isn't the first time health problems have been linked with getting too little and too much sleep. A study presented at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session last year showed that getting six or fewer, or eight or more hours of sleep a night raises the risk of heart problems.

While everyone's sleep needs will differ, the National Sleep Foundation recommends adults generally get between seven and nine hours a night.

'Sleeping longer doesn't necessarily mean you're sleeping well,' the president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine said.

You've likely heard that not getting enough sleep can be detrimental to your health, but that doesn't mean sleeping for too long is good for you either.

People who get too little sleep (six hours or less) or too much shut-eye (10 hours or more) are more likely to have coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests.

Adults, especially those with chronic conditions, should aim for seven to nine hours of sleep a night, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

"Sleeping longer doesn't necessarily mean you're sleeping well," Dr. M. Safwan Badr, president of the AASM, said in a release. "It is important to understand that both the quality and quantity of sleep impact your health."

The CDC study involved more than 54,000 participants age 45 and older. Almost one-third were classified as short sleepers, while 64% were identified as optimal sleepers. Roughly 2% were long sleepers.

It didn't used to be this way. Even as recently as ten years ago the only way technology really kept us awake in the bedroom was a late-night gaming or film-watching session. The only thing our phones could do to stop us sleeping was the occasional text or phone call at unsocial hours.

But now everything has changed. Smartphones, tablets and smaller laptop devices like Netbooks and Chromebooks have meant that we have never had more distractions. And because everything is connected to the web, it’s even harder to switch off, and power down not only your device but your brain.

This lack of sleep is definitely bad for us. Here are the top ways tech is keeping us awake, and how we can switch off.

Social media

Online networking has transformed our bed-going behavior. Facebooking and tweeting can be a great way to stay in touch with friends and engaged in modern culture, but the problem is that there’s always a conversation happening somewhere that you want to get involved in. There’s always someone sharing something amazing that you want to read.

The strange thing about social media is that when you away from it for an extended period of time, you don’t miss it. But when you know interaction and reward (in the form of Liking and commenting) is just a button-press away, it’s hard to draw a line and call it a night.

Games

PlayStations and Xboxes have been around for ages, of course, but smartphone and tablet games have introduced a whole new paradigm of in-bed game playing. We know that a world of stimulating and compelling games – many of them free – are just a few clicks away on.

Developers have grown increasingly shrewd about the utilisation of game dynamics to hook us and make their games un-put-downable – Zynga even has a mechanics ‘playbook’. The ‘worst’ games are probably the ones without clear levels. Games like Minecraft and Football Manager are designed so you could play them all night. And many people do.

An added dimension in the world of the connected web is playing against someone else. Playing any kind of board, drawing or card game over the internet with someone means you can become a little obsessed by thinking about their next move.

e-books

Reading a paperback can keep you up. Just one more chapter, right? But devices like the Kindle and Kobo can store thousands of books, meaning that as soon as you finish one you can crack straight on with the next one.

There’s the added issue that if you lose interest in one novel, you can delve right into another one. Which is dangerous, as there’s never the thing of closing the finished book and having nothing else to read.

News stories

In the same way that social media never sleeps, the 24-hour news cycle is a constant source of distraction. There’s always a story happening, somewhere. And you can follow it all in bed.

And if something dramatic is breaking, bang goes your early night. It’s never been easier to follow breaking news, and with constant updates and the slow release of facts it can be tricky to put down your devices and catch up with the story the next day.

The worst sites are probably ones like BuzzFeed and reddit that offer a consistent flow of entertaining, shareable and disposable content. There’s always another gif, meme or list-based article to check out.

Music

Streaming services like Spotify and Last.fm have opened a gateway to a world where anyone can credibly pass themselves off as a muso. People used to spend serious amounts of time assembling an old band’s back catalogue; nowadays you can browse their songs in one session without going anywhere.

And this is great, but it means that while you would previously need to accept music rationing in a discovery phase due to the logistic and monetary constraints, now you can binge on multi-album sessions all night for a fraction of the cost.

People have become curators, too. iTunes and Spotify allows you to compile your own playlists, and apps have come out that encourage you to create your own top ten collections for any genre or artist.

The never-ending journey

Perhaps the common theme in all of this is the sense of the never-ending journey that the web offers. Very few things are experienced in isolation, and it’s those constant links to more stuff that makes it so tough to stop. Spotify is probably a good example. Within the app there’s a lifetime of content to be discovered, ways to interact in the form of playlists and following friends and musicians, then you can share everything socially.

Social media, games, news… there’s always a link to take you somewhere interesting. The journey never stops. Unless you’re strong and make it stop.

Notifications

And as if this all wasn't enough, every app you ever download wants to notify you every time anything happens that might be relevant to you!

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So what’s the answer to all this? How can you get more sleep? Well, the first thing to do is to switch off the devices. You could create a time cut-off or home zone where electronic devices aren't allowed. If you find yourself binging on late-night tech because you can’t sleep, take a look at your stress levels and even the type of mattress you sleep on – this really can affect you.

Whether you've got insomnia, are obsessed by a new game or are just uncomfortable, staying up late using tech isn't going to help you in the long run. Tech is awesome, but it’s a powerful thing. And with great power comes great responsibility.

So look after yourself. Get more sleep. Apps like Sleep Cycle can help you track and manage your sleeping patterns, so it’s worth looking into these.