From my own experience, I think sleep is more about
quality then quantity. We sleep in 90 minute cycles and the question is what we can do to optimize those cycles to get the best amount of sleep. There's this popular biohacker named Dave Asprey who does well with 5-6 hours of nightly sleep, but it's only possible because he optimized all facets of his life.
Poor sleep is linked to just about
every discernible medical ill out there, so it's not too much of a stretch to say that it increases UC re-occurence or even influences the onset of UC. I know my high school years were riddled with getting up at 6 and always being exhausted throughout the day. I think some schools have changed their starting times, but it's still crazy how early kids have to get up these days.
I'm biased but I think the corporate structure in America lends itself to not just poor sleep patterns, but a heavy tedium of stress. We know both are linked to poor health outcomes. Job stress really needs to be dealt with, but then there's that trade off that people have to make between money or health. For me and given my prior experiences, health usually wins by a long margin.
Article: Nearly a Third of Americans are Sleep Deprived