Sleeping and waking up at different times is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, even for people who get the recommended amount of sleep, according to new research. <\/p>\n
While most previous research has measured the impact of sleep length on human health, less is known about the effects of changes to the sleep cycle, said researchers in a statement published Tuesday. <\/p>\n
To address this, for seven days scientists tracked activity data from 72,269 participants aged 40 to 79 who had never suffered a major adverse cardiovascular event. <\/p>\n
They calculated each person\u2019s Sleep Regularity Index (SRI) score, with higher scores denoting more regular sleepers. <\/p>\n
The team then tracked incidents of cardiovascular death, heart attack, heart failure and stroke over eight years and found that irregular sleepers were 26% more likely to suffer one of these events than those with a regular sleep cycle. Irregular sleep means the variations in the time someone goes to sleep and wakes up. <\/p>\n
The 26% calculation also takes into account a number of factors, including age, physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking that could have influenced the findings. However, it was an observational study and, as such, can only establish a link rather than cause and effect: we can\u2019t know for sure if irregular sleep patterns caused the increased risk. <\/p>\n
Researchers also noted that those with a higher SRI score (more regular sleepers) were more likely to get the daily recommendation of seven to nine hours of sleep per night for 18-64 year olds, and seven to eight hours for those over the age of 65, with 61% of regular sleepers doing so compared to 48% of irregular sleepers. <\/p>\n
But even those irregular sleepers who got the recommended amount of sleep had a higher risk of suffering a major cardiovascular event. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur results suggest that sleep regularity may be more relevant than sufficient sleep duration,\u201d the study said. <\/p>\n
As for reducing the risk of cardiovascular events, Chaput highlighted the fact that high blood pressure is a leading risk factor. <\/p>\n
\u201cReaders should prioritize seven to nine hours of consistent, restorative sleep per night, as poor sleep can contribute to high blood pressure,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBedtimes and wake-up times don\u2019t need to be exactly the same every day, but it\u2019s best to keep them within 30-60 minutes of your usual schedule to support your body\u2019s natural circadian rhythm,\u201d added Chaput. <\/p>\n
\u201cSmall variations are fine, but consistent sleep patterns improve sleep quality, boost mood and cognitive function, and lower the risk of health issues like heart disease and diabetes,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Chaput also warned against relying on catching up on sleep at the weekends. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s possible to recover some sleep by sleeping longer on weekends, but it doesn\u2019t fully undo the negative effects of chronic sleep deprivation during the workweek,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile extra weekend sleep can temporarily improve mood and cognitive function, irregular sleep patterns can disrupt your body\u2019s circadian rhythm and lead to long-term health risks like obesity, diabetes and heart disease,\u201d added Chaput, who is currently developing healthy sleep guidelines in collaboration with the World Health Organization. <\/p>\n
\u201cI believe it\u2019s a crucial next step to ensure sleep is valued as an essential component of well-being, rather than dismissed as a waste of time in our society,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Naveed Sattar, a professor of cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, who was not involved in the research, said that while there are associations between the sleep cycle and cardiovascular health, the study used \u201coverly causal\u201d language. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very hard to say,\u201d said Attar, adding that he \u201cwould be cautious in attributing causality here.\u201d <\/p>\n
The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Sleeping and waking up at different times is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, even for people who get the recommended amount of sleep, according to new research. While most previous research has measured the impact of sleep length on human health, less is known about the effects of changes to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"loftocean_post_primary_category":0,"loftocean_post_format_gallery":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_ids":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_urls":"","loftocean_post_format_video_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_video_url":"","loftocean_post_format_video_type":"","loftocean_post_format_video":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_type":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_url":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_audio":"","loftocean-featured-post":"","loftocean-like-count":0,"loftocean-view-count":526,"tinysalt_single_post_intro_label":"","tinysalt_single_post_intro_description":"","tinysalt_hide_post_featured_image":"","tinysalt_post_featured_media_position":"","tinysalt_single_site_header_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header_style":"sticky-scroll-up","tinysalt_single_site_footer_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_footer":"0","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}