A lack of sleep can have a negative effect on our future health, says a study by the University of Copenhagen. The research was announced, and was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. Another study announced by the European Society of Cardiology on June 16, 2015, found an association between poor sleep and an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
“Sleep affects our ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and when sleep deteriorates we are more likely to make unhealthy lifestyle changes,” says Postdoc Alice Jessie Clark from the Department of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen and author of the first study. Researchers found that people find it easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle, such as smoking less.
Smokers with normal sleep patterns and undisturbed nights are less likely to continue to smoke and are more likely to quit smoking four years later than those with an increase in sleep disturbances and shortened sleep duration. Researchers found that those with impaired sleep and adverse lifestyle changes were at a higher risk of becoming overweight or obese, or to change from being physically active to becoming physically inactive. Some non-risk people consumed more alcohol.
The research was conducted by an international collaboration of epidemiologists and sleep researchers from Denmark and Finland. The findings were based on data from more than 35,000 adult Finns who were active undisturbed sleepers over a four year period. Participants who developed disturbed sleeping patterns were followed for an additional four years.
The second study found a close association between poor sleep and cardiovascular disease. “Mortality from cardiovascular diseases accounts for nearly 50% of the total mortality among the population,” said Valery Gafarov, professor of cardiology at the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in Novosibirsk, Russia.
“Nearly 80% of deaths from cardiovascular disease are due to myocardial infarction (heart attack) and stroke. It means that today we are talking about an epidemic of cardiovascular disease. It is therefore necessary to engage in intensive prevention of risk factors leading to the development of cardiovascular diseases.”
Study findings:
63 percent of the participants who experienced a heart attack also had a sleeping disorder
Sleeping disorders are closely associated with negative physical and emotional states such as anxiety, hostility, depression, and exhaustion
Men had a 2 to 2.5 times higher risk of myocardial infarction and a 1.5 to 4 times higher risk of stroke during year five to 14 of the study
The rates of heart attack and stroke in men with sleeping disorders were related to a social gradient, with the highest incidences in those who were widowed or divorced, did not finish secondary school, or worked in medium to heavy manual labor
Researchers investigated the relationship between sleep disturbance and the long-term risk of developing a heart attack or stroke in 657 men aged 25 to 64 years with no history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes in Novosibirsk, Russia. Occurrences of stroke and myocardial infarction were recorded. The researchers defined good quality sleep as seven to eight hours of rest a night.
