The Sleep-Heart Connection

Here's some serious and important news about sleep and heart health: there's yet more evidence of a link between sleeplessness and heart disease. The results of a large-scale study show that people who suffer from insomnia are at higher risk for heart attacks.

The study, which was conducted by scientists at the Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology, included 52,610 men and women, who began by answering a survey that included questions about their sleep. Researchers followed up with the participants over a period of 11 years, during which time 2,368 people included in the study experienced a first heart attack. After adjusting for several health and lifestyle factors, including age, sex, education, physical fitness, smoking, alcohol consumption and high blood pressure, the researchers determined that:

• People who had difficulty falling asleep had a 45 percent greater risk of heart attack compared to those who regularly fell asleep without trouble.
• People who had trouble staying asleep throughout the night had a 30 percent greater risk of heart attack than people who were able to sleep through the night.
• People who woke feeling tired and un-rested had a 27 percent higher risk of heart attack than people who woke feeling refreshed.

These results are the latest contribution to a growing body of evidence that disordered sleep, such as insomnia, increases the risk of cardiovascular problems for both men and women:

• Too little sleep -- or too much sleep -- may cause an increased risk of high blood pressure, according to one study.
• Another study found that lack of sleep may contribute to calcium deposits in the arteries
• Research indicates that adults who sleep fewer than six hours per night are at a higher risk for inflammation in the body, which can contribute to heart disease.
• Another study showed that adults who slept fewer than six hours nightly were at a 48 percent higher risk of heart disease, and a 15 percent greater risk of stroke.
• Even in people who are very physically fit, a lack of sleep appears to increase the risk of heart problems.
• The cardiovascular risks that are associated with low sleep appear to be more serious for women.

In the current study, it's the effects of insomnia on the heart that is being investigated. Insomnia is an all-too-common sleep disorder, affecting as many as a third or more of American adults, according to the National Institutes of Health. There are two basic types of insomnia. Acute insomnia consists of short-term episodes of sleeplessness. Chronic insomnia, on the other hand, can last for months or years. Most people with chronic insomnia spend several nights a week struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-michael-j-breus/insomnia-heart-disease_b_1083854.html