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It has been proven that adequate sleep helps keep the body healthy and the mind healthy. But it's not just a matter of logging at least seven hours from Z.
A new study on sleep patterns suggests that a regular bedtime and wake time are just as important for heart and metabolic health in the elderly.
In a study of 1,978 elderly people published on September 21 in the journal Scientific reportsResearchers at Duke Health and the Duke Clinical Research Institute found that people with irregular sleep patterns weighed more, had higher blood glucose, higher blood pressure, and a higher risk of heart attack or stroke. same time each day.
Irregular sleepers were also more likely to report depression and stress than regular sleepers, both of whom are related to heart health.
African Americans had the most irregular sleep patterns compared to white, Chinese-American or Hispanic participants, the data showed.
The results show an association – and not a cause-and-effect relationship – between regular sleep and heart and metabolic health.
"From our study, we can not conclude that irregular sleep causes health risks, or if health conditions affect sleep," said Jessica Lunsford-Avery, Ph.D., assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences. "Maybe all these things are mutually reinforcing."
Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that monitoring regular sleep patterns may help identify those at risk and where health disparities may impact specific groups, such as African-Americans.
"Heart disease and diabetes are extremely common in the United States, they are extremely expensive and are also the leading causes of death in this country," she said. "To the extent that we can predict people at risk for these diseases, we may be able to prevent or delay their onset."
The participants used devices that followed the sleep schedules by the minute so that researchers could know if even subtle changes – go to bed at 10:10. instead of the usual 22 hours – were related to the health of the participants. Their ages ranged from 54 to 93 years, and people with sleep disorders such as sleep apnea were not included.
The study also made it possible to track participants' sleep duration and their preferred moment – that someone appeared early or was a night owl. According to these measures, people with hypertension tended to sleep longer and people with obesity tended to stay up later.
Of the three measures, regularity was best for predicting the risk of heart and metabolic disease, according to the researchers.
As might be expected, the irregular sleepers felt more drowsy during the day and were less active – perhaps because they were tired, said Lunsford-Avery.
The researchers plan to conduct more studies over longer periods of time in hopes of determining how biology causes changes in sleep patterns and vice versa.
"Maybe obesity disrupts the regularity of sleep," said Lunsford-Avery. "Or, as some research suggests, maybe lack of sleep interferes with metabolism, which can lead to weight gain, and the cycle is vicious.With more research, we hope to understand what is happening biologically. first or what is the chicken and that is the egg. "
In addition to Lunsford-Avery, the study's authors include Matthew Engelhard, Ann Marie Navar and Scott H. Kollins.
The research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (K23 MH108704) and the National Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood (K01HL13341, N01-HC-95159 to N01-HC-95169, R01 L098433, R24 HL114473). National Institutes of Health.
The authors reported several financial information: Lunsford-Avery received consulting fees from Behavioral Innovations Group; Kollins has received research or consulting fees from Akili Interactive, Bose, Jazz, KemPharm, Medgenics, Neos, Otsuka, Rhodes, Shire and Sunovion; Navar has received research or advisory fees from Amgen, Regeneron, Sanofi, Janssen and Amarin.
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