A new study suggests that people with irregular sleep patterns have an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
Results of the study, published in Journal of Epidemiology and Community Healthshow that people who go to bed and wake up at very different times each day have a 26 percent increased risk of a major heart-related health condition.
The researchers also found that the risk remained the same whether these people got the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep a night. UPI
“Our results suggest that sleep regularity may be more relevant than sufficient sleep duration in altering MACE. [major adverse cardiovascular event] risk,” concluded the research team led by Jean-Philippe Chaput.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 72,000 people who took part in the UK Biobank. They wore the tracker for seven days to record their sleep patterns and the researchers scored their sleep regularity based on the data provided by the trackers.
Researchers found that the worse a person’s sleep patterns, the higher their risk of life-threatening heart problems.
Further analysis of the data revealed that getting enough sleep may reduce heart health risks in people with sleep disorders. Yet, the risk posed by these sleep patterns is independent of how much sleep a person gets.
“These disturbances contribute to a cascade of adverse effects, including increased stress hormone release, increased blood pressure, impaired endothelial function, and increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders,” the researchers wrote. The researchers wrote.
“It is noteworthy that the American Heart Association’s cardiovascular health construct, called Life’s Essential 8, now includes sleep duration as a metric,” the team concluded in their paper. “The addition of sleep to this construct is certainly good news and recognizes the importance of sleep in cardiovascular health.”