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A Spanish study suggests that people who sleep less than six hours a night are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than those who sleep seven to eight hours.
In this study, 3,974 bank employees had activity follow-ups to measure sleep for one week, as well as 3D cardiac scans and cardiac CT scans for heart disease.
The researchers found that, compared to people sleeping between seven and eight hours, those who slept less than six hours a night were 27% more likely to suffer from "preclinical" atherosclerosis: structural changes and thickening of the arterial walls severe enough to cause complications.
Previous research has linked sleep deprivation with traditional risk factors for heart disease such as hyperglycemia, hypertension, inflammation and obesity.
"Sleep, along with diet and physical activity, is (is) one of the healthy habits we must adopt and maintain to keep our cardiovascular system healthy," said Jose Ordovas , lead author of the study, researcher at the CNIC in Madrid and director of nutrition and genomics at the USDA USDA Jean Mayer Aging Research Center at Tufts University, Boston.
<! – "Our results corroborate the traditional belief that we should sleep well about eight hours a day," Ordovas said by e-mail. "For those who, for one reason or another, can not avoid lack of sleep, the recommendation should be to take a more proactive stance to control other lifestyle-related risk factors, such as diet. food and exercise. "
The hardening of the arteries can develop gradually over several decades before causing problems. People can live for years with preclinical abnormalities before developing complete atherosclerosis, characterized by plaque buildup on artery walls that restrict blood flow and can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
Although very few participants – just 160 people – slept more than eight hours a night, the study also found that these long sleepers had increased heart risk. Women who slept more than 8 hours were almost twice as likely to have a preclinical plaque buildup in the arteries than women who slept seven to eight hours a night.
Men also had a slightly higher risk of plaque buildup with too much sleep, but the difference was too small to rule out the possibility that it was due to chance.
"It's important to point out that more is not always better because too long a night can increase cardiovascular risk," Ordovas said.
The study participants were on average 46 years old and none had a history of heart disease. They tended to be slightly overweight, but also to do about 45 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day.
People who sleep less tend to be older, weigh more and have higher cholesterol and blood pressure than those who rest more, researchers have reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
The study team evaluated the risk of occurrence of a serious 10 or 30-year cardiac event in participants, such as a heart attack or stroke, at the end of the study. using the Framingham Risk Calculator.
<! – Overall, participants were at risk of heart attack or stroke 5.9% over the next 10 years and 17.7% over 30 years.
However, with less than six hours of sleep, the 10-year risk has risen to 6.9% and the 30-year risk to 20.9%.
The study was not a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how the quality or quantity of sleep could directly affect the hardening of the arteries or cause heart attacks or strokes.
Nevertheless, the results underscore the importance of good rest, said co-author of the editorial, Dr. Daniel Gottlieb, director of the VA Boston Healthcare System's Sleep Disorders Center.
"One of the keys to good sleep is to make sleep a priority – by turning off the TV, computer, tablet and phone at a reasonable time, following a regular sleep schedule, taking the time to get to sleep. relax before going to bed and avoiding caffeine at the end of the day, "Gottlieb said by email. "Exercise and a good diet can also help improve the quality of sleep."
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