Sleep is something most people take for granted. They only go to
bed once they are done with their
night chores or when fatigue finally sets in and their eyelids start drooping.
night chores or when fatigue finally sets in and their eyelids start drooping.
While this
may appear as a seemingly harmless habit, health experts note that it is
predisposing people to adverse health effects, especially as they grow
older.
They recommend that people think meticulously
about their sleeping habits and schedule sleeping times and durations
appropriately.
A new study published in the Journal of
the American College of Cardiology has found that older adults with
irregular sleep patterns have a higher risk of developing a
cardiovascular illness.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a general term used to describe a range of ailments that affect the heart and blood vessels.
They include heart failure, abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia),
heart valve problems, heart infections, congenital heart defects and
narrowing of blood vessels. These conditions can lead to adverse health
effects like heart attacks and strokes.
The research
findings revealed that adults with irregular bedtime and wake-up
schedules, or those that get different amounts of sleep each night are
nearly twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease compared to
those with more regular sleep patterns.
According to
the researchers, the results of the new study suggest that an irregular
sleep pattern may be a novel and independent risk factor for
cardiovascular disease.
It also shows that maintaining
regular sleep patterns could help prevent heart disease just as other
lifestyle measures such as physical activity and healthy diets.
“We
hope that our study will help raise awareness about the potential
importance of a regular sleep pattern in improving heart health. It is a
new frontier in sleep medicine,” said Tianyi Huang, the lead author of
the study and an epidemiologist with the Channing Division of Network
Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
The
researchers noted that the high cardiovascular disease risk could be
due to the harmful disturbances that irregular sleep patterns have on
the body’s circadian rhythm (a 24-hour internal body clock which
controls the sleep-wake cycle).
Previous studies have
linked insufficient amounts of sleep to a higher risk of obesity,
diabetes and heart disease. This is among the reasons doctors emphasise
the importance of getting seven to eight hours of sleep per night.
Although
researchers have suspected that high day-to-day variability in sleep
duration and timing might also have negative effects on heart health,
the effects remained unclear.
The
novel study, which was conducted over five years, is believed to be the
first to fill the knowledge gap and conclusively link sleep
irregularity to the development of the cardiovascular disease.
“This
study is important because it is among the largest of its kind, and it
specifically associates these irregular sleep patterns with an increased
risk for cardiovascular disease,” said Michael Twery, the director of
the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Centre on Sleep
Disorders Research.
During the current study, the
researchers followed 1,992 men and women from different US communities,
aged between 45 and 84, who did not have cardiovascular disease at the
start of the study.
Of the participants, about 38 per
cent were white, 28 per cent African American, 22 per cent Hispanic, and
12 per cent Chinese American. They were followed for about five years
after having a sleep examination.
To measure sleep
irregularity, the participants wore actigraph devices on their wrists.
The devices resemble smartwatches that are designed to specifically
measure whether a person is active or at rest. This correlates to
wakefulness and sleep.
Thanks to technology, the
researchers were able to closely track the participants’ sleep and wake
activity for seven consecutive days, including weekends.
Besides,
the research participants were subjected to a comprehensive sleep test
known as polysomnography at the beginning of the study. They were also
subjected to a questionnaire-based sleep assessment.
During
the five-year follow-up period, 111 participants suffered from effects
of cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks and strokes. Some ended
up dying from the conditions.
According to the
researchers, participants with the most irregular sleep duration or
timing had more than double the risk of developing a CVD over the
follow-up period compared to those with the most regular sleep patterns.
They
noted that although past studies suggest that women are more likely
than men to be affected by unhealthy sleep, the current study did not
find significant gender differences.
According to the
researchers, a better understanding of the root causes could lead to new
medicinal or technological interventions that could help people better
regulate their sleep patterns, such as wearing devices or using
specialised mobile apps designed to reduce irregular sleep.
In
addition to regular sleep patterns, people can reduce their
cardiovascular disease risk through cessation of tobacco use, reduction
of salt in diets, high intake of fruits and vegetables, regular physical
activity and avoiding harmful use of alcohol.
Moreover,
drug treatment of diabetes, hypertension and high blood lipids may be
necessary to forestall the disease risk and prevent heart attacks and
strokes.
Often, the cardiovascular disease presents
with no symptoms. A heart attack or stroke may be the first warning of
an underlying condition.
Symptoms of a heart attack
include pain or discomfort in the centre of the chest, left shoulder,
arms, elbows, jaw or back. The most common symptom of a stroke is sudden
weakness of the face, arm or leg. This mostly happens on one side of
the body.
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