To say that sleep is essential for overall good health is an understatement. Lack of sleep not only results in cardiovascular diseases but also causes plaque buildup in the arteries.
Previous research has shown that poor sleep is deeply associated with coronary heart disease, but this is the first study that looks into the link between sleep and atherosclerosis, or the increase of plaque in the extremities.
In a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers looked into the cardiovascular health of 4,000 Spanish men and women at an average age of 46 with no reported heart problems. The team divided the participants into four groups based on sleep duration: less than six hours, six to seven hours, seven to eight hours, and more than eight hours.
Subjects wore an actigraph to measure their length and quality of sleep for seven nights. The device tracked how often they woke up and moved during the sleep stages. They also had various arteries of their body scanned via 3D ultrasound, underwent both a cardiac CT scan and a 3D ultrasound of their heart before and after the study.
The study strictly excluded participants who have sleep problems like sleep apnea and those who have any heart problems. Likewise, the researchers factored out traditional risk factors for heart disease and their findings showed that those who slept less than six hours were 27 percent more likely to have atherosclerosis throughout their body than those who slept longer. Meanwhile, those who had sleep disturbances were 34 percent more likely to have plaque buildup than those who slept well. The authors of the study conclude that healthy sleep habits are important for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
Plaque buildup in the body can lead to several health risks. Dr. Deepak Bhatt, a Cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, points out that a plaque in the heart arteries can lead to a heart attack, while a plaque in the brain can cause a stroke. Bhatt says quality also matters not just quantity when it comes to sleep and that seven to eight hours is the "sweet spot for sleep duration."
Other previous studies show a link between lack of sleep and blood pressure, obesity and inflammation. Likewise, lack or poor sleep can weaken the immune system, can result in mental health problems, diabetes, affect the brain or cognitive performance, and result in mood swings.
