Irregular sleep may be harmful to the heart, study finds

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Not getting enough sleep has noticeable short-term effects. Perhaps you get distracted at work or get whimsical with a loved one. But in the background, irregular and poor quality sleep patterns may increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. published research It was published this week in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

“This study is one of the first to provide evidence of a relationship between irregular sleep duration and sleep timing and atherosclerosis,” said Epidemiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Lead study author Kelsey Full, an assistant professor of medicine in the department, said. .

Atherosclerosis is the buildup of plaque in arteries. American Heart AssociationThis plaque is made up of cholesterol, fatty substances, cellular waste products, calcium, and fibrin, the clotting agent in blood. As plaque builds up, it thickens the walls of blood vessels and reduces blood flow, thus reducing the amount of oxygen and other nutrients reaching the rest of the body. , can lead to cardiovascular health conditions such as angina pectoris, heart attack, stroke, carotid or peripheral artery disease.

Poor sleep quality, abnormal sleep quality, and sleep fragmentation have previously been associated with cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular disease-related mortality, but sleep regularity has been associated with atherosclerosis. Little was known about the specific relevance of

Sleep regularity, as defined by the authors of the new study, is estimated by the variation in sleep duration (how long you sleep each night) and sleep timing (how long you fall asleep each night), with less variation the better.

The authors sought to explore this relationship in more detail by analyzing the sleep of older adults (mean age 69 years) who participated in a multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Longitudinal cohort study Designed to investigate the prevalence and progression of cardiovascular disease and risk factors. Between 2000 and 2002, he recruited over 2,000 participants from Minnesota, Maryland, Illinois, North Carolina, California, and New York.

In a sleep assessment conducted between 2010 and 2013, participants kept a sleep diary for seven consecutive days and wore a wristwatch that tracked their sleep and wakefulness history. Participants also underwent a sleep study at home to measure breathing, sleep stages, nighttime arousal, and heart rate.

After assessing participants’ cardiovascular health over the same time frame, the researchers found that those with irregular sleep times (varying from 90 minutes to 2 hours or more per week) were more likely to have higher coronary artery calcium scores. was found to be about 1.4 times higher. compared to people with more consistent sleep times. (This calcium score measures the amount of calcified plaque in the arteries; the higher the number, the higher the risk of some cardiovascular diseases.) The former group had carotid artery plaque and vascular It also increased the likelihood that the results of tests evaluating the hardness of

“These results suggest that maintaining a regular or habitual sleep duration, or getting close to the same total hours of sleep each night, may play an important role in preventing cardiovascular disease. doing.”

Because sleep quality and atherosclerosis were measured simultaneously, the researchers were unable to assess or prove whether irregular sleep caused the condition—only an association between the two was found. .

The results of the study, released Wednesday, may be due to both a direct link between sleep and the heart, and/or other lifestyle factors.

I said in an email to Donald Lloyd Jones, Ph.D., chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Lloyd Jones was not involved in this study.

“Sleep is important because it allows the heart to rest. Sleep is when the heart rate slows and blood pressure usually drops,” he added. become stressed over time.”

Anything that interferes with a person’s sleep can lead to changes that affect the heart, says Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver. Freeman was not involved in the research.

“When sleep is interrupted, people with sleep apnea, in particular, usually catecholamine Like adrenaline, you can do all sorts of things with chronic problems,” Freeman said. added.

Still, the study’s results were for participants with no history of cardiovascular disease, so everyone should be careful, Lloyd-Jones said.

“Sleep is important for all of us,” he added. “Lifes is an important part of his Essential 8 approach to optimizing cardiovascular health, which also helps prevent cancer, dementia and many other age-related chronic diseases.”

Life Essential 8 The American Heart Association checklist for lifelong health, including healthy eating, physical activity, smoking cessation, weight management, cholesterol management, and blood sugar and blood pressure management.

The association recommends that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. These include going to bed at the same time each night, waking up at the same time each day, avoiding caffeine after midnight, using the bedroom only for sleep and intimacy, avoiding screens before bed, and a dark, quiet, and cool room. This includes sleeping in

“I also recommend keeping a notebook by your bed,” said Freeman. “And when people wake up in the middle of the night,[they]write down the first thing that comes to mind: heard a bird, had to pee, had some stressor in their mind, etc. And that could be the focus when they meditate or do something mindful.”

Seek treatment from a sleep specialist or other clinician if you have sleep apnea or persistent sleep problems.