A news report from The Blade examines the link between sleep and cardiovascular disease and heart health.
The MORGEN study, recently published in SLEEP, a joint publication of the Sleep Research Society and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, followed 20,432 men and women aged 20-65 with no history of CVD over a 10 to 15 year period. Researchers studied sleep duration and sleep quality in relation to CVD. Investigators found that patients who slept less than seven hours (which was defined as sufficient sleep) had a 63 percent higher risk of CVD, especially if they awoke feeling unrested. To the contrary, those who slept more than nine hours had a 38 percent increased risk of CVD.
Likewise, a 2008 study from the University of Chicago found a link between insufficient sleep and increased coronary artery calcium, which can lead to coronary artery disease.
“The MORGEN study found that seven hours was the average sleep duration and this is what people should strive for every night,” Dr. Karamali says. “Long-term issues from sleep deprivation can be related to eventual heart complications that can be irreversible.”
