Sleeping less than 6 hours and heart disease, stroke -- deadly combo
October 2, 2019
Science Daily/American Heart Association
Middle-aged adults with high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke could be at high risk for cancer and early death when sleeping less than six hours per day, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the open access journal of the American Heart Association.
"Our study suggests that achieving normal sleep may be protective for some people with these health conditions and risks," said lead study author Julio Fernandez-Mendoza, Ph.D., associate professor at Pennsylvania State College of Medicine and sleep psychologist at the Sleep Research & Treatment Center of the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. "However, further research is needed to examine whether improving and increasing sleep through medical or behavioral therapies can reduce risk of early death."
Researchers analyzed data of more than 1,600 adults (20 to 74 years old, more than half women) from the Penn State Adult Cohort who were categorized into two groups as having stage 2 high blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes and having heart disease or stroke. Participants were studied in the sleep laboratory (1991-1998) for one night and then researchers tracked their cause of death up to the end of 2016.
Researchers found:
· Of the 512 people who passed away, one-third died of heart disease or stroke and one-fourth died due to cancer.
· People who had high blood pressure or diabetes and slept less than 6 hours had twice the increased risk of dying from heart disease or stroke.
· People who had heart disease or stroke and slept less than 6 hours had three times the increased risk of dying from cancer.
· The increased risk of early death for people with high blood pressure or diabetes was negligible if they slept for more than 6 hours.
"Short sleep duration should be included as a useful risk factor to predict the long-term outcomes of people with these health conditions and as a target of primary and specialized clinical practices," Fernandez-Mendoza said. "I'd like to see policy changes so that sleep consultations and sleep studies become a more integral part of our healthcare systems. Better identification of people with specific sleep issues would potentially lead to improved prevention, more complete treatment approaches, better long-term outcomes and less healthcare usage."
Sleep duration in this study was based on observing one night's sleep, which may be affected by the first-night effect where participants sleep significantly worse the first night in a lab compared to other consecutive nights, which is the type of sleep study routinely used in clinical practices.
According to the American Heart Association, roughly 45% of the United States population has stage 2 high blood pressure and/or Type 2 diabetes, while another 14% have heart disease or stroke.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191002075944.htm
Sleepless nights linked to high blood pressure
June 4, 2019
Science Daily/University of Arizona
A bad night's sleep may result in a spike in blood pressure that night and the following day, according to new research led by the University of Arizona.
The study, to be published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, offers one possible explanation for why sleep problems have been shown to increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and even death from cardiovascular disease.
The link between poor sleep and cardiovascular health problems is increasingly well-established in scientific literature, but the reason for the relationship is less understood.
Researchers set out to learn more about the connection in a study of 300 men and women, ages 21 to 70, with no history of heart problems. Participants wore portable blood pressure cuffs for two consecutive days. The cuffs randomly took participants' blood pressure during 45-minute intervals throughout each day and also overnight.
At night, participants wore actigraphy monitors -- wristwatch-like devices that measure movement -- to help determine their "sleep efficiency," or the amount of time in bed spent sleeping soundly.
Overall, those who had lower sleep efficiency showed an increase in blood pressure during that restless night. They also had higher systolic blood pressure -- the top number in a patient's blood pressure reading -- the next day.
More research is needed to understand why poor sleep raises blood pressure and what it could mean long-term for people with chronic sleep issues. Yet, these latest findings may be an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to understanding the pathway through which sleep impacts overall cardiovascular health.
"Blood pressure is one of the best predictors of cardiovascular health," said lead study author Caroline Doyle, a graduate student in the UA Department of Psychology. "There is a lot of literature out there that shows sleep has some kind of impact on mortality and on cardiovascular disease, which is the No. 1 killer of people in the country. We wanted to see if we could try to get a piece of that story -- how sleep might be impacting disease through blood pressure."
The study reinforces just how important a good night's sleep can be. It's not just the amount of time you spend in bed, but the quality of sleep you're getting, said study co-author John Ruiz, UA associate professor of psychology.
Improving sleep quality can start with making simple changes and being proactive, Ruiz said.
"Keep the phone in a different room," he suggested. "If your bedroom window faces the east, pull the shades. For anything that's going to cause you to waken, think ahead about what you can do to mitigate those effects."
For those with chronic sleep troubles, Doyle advocates cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, or CBTI, which focuses on making behavioral changes to improve sleep health. CBTI is slowly gaining traction in the medical field and is recommended by both the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine as the first line of treatment for insomnia.
Doyle and Ruiz say they hope their findings -- showing the impact even one fitful night's rest can have on the body -- will help illuminate just how critical sleep is for heart health.
"This study stands on the shoulders of a broad literature looking at sleep and cardiovascular health," Doyle said. "This is one more study that shows something is going on with sleep and our heart health. Sleep is important, so whatever you can do to improve your sleep, it's worth prioritizing."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190604131159.htm