People who boast about getting by on less than five hours sleep should be shunned like smokers, because of the harm which can be caused by short sleeping, a leading professor has said.

Prof Russell Foster, a neuroscientist from the University of Oxford, said lack of sleep is damaging the health of the nation, with too many early risers trying to function with brain skills so damaged they could be drunk.

The comments follow studies which suggest that working night shifts speeds up the ageing process, and is linked to increasing risks of cancer, heart disease and type two diabetes.

Prof Foster, director of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, called for a change in attitudes towards getting an early night.

Read the article “Sleep Deprivation ‘As Bad As Smoking’” on telegraph.co.uk.