New research has found that sleep deficits can have far-reaching ill effects on your health, even doubling the risk of stroke fatalities and potentially severe heart attacks. Women, who are more prone to insomnia due to several factors including genetics, hormones or stress, are at higher risk than men. A large-scale study on sleep deprivation patterns has revealed a crucial association between sleep problems and heart attacks or strokes.
What is sleep deprivation?
Sleep-deprivation is a long term condition of not getting adequate sleep, which can lead to health hazards that can include high-stress levels, lowered rates of metabolism, heart and kidney problems and general malaise.
How much sleep is enough?
Time and again, we have been told that an eight hour sleep and ‘early to bed, early to rise’ is good for us, but a majority of the present generation is battling with sleep deprivation. A study recorded in the Journal of the American Heart Association considers that continued sleep times of below six hours a day can even nearly double the risk of death in people who have metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome includes common risk factors for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and stroke.
The research was based on 1,344 adults, of average age 49 and approximately 42% of whom were men, who were randomly selected for a sleep study in Pennsylvania. The participants spent one night in a sleep laboratory where their sleep parameters were critically studied. The study followed their lives over the next 16 years and examined the correlation between symptoms of insomnia and any incidents or death arising from cardiovascular disease, including acute myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease/ heart failure, stroke, or a combination of all these issues. It was found that those with metabolic syndrome who had inadequate sleep in the lab were 2.1 times more likely to die of heart disease or stroke.
What are the effects of not getting enough sleep?
It is conjectured that sleep deprivation can change brain areas like the hypothalamus and hormone secretion which increases appetite. The sympathetic nervous system may also be turned on, and this raises the blood pressure. It can even alter the secretion of growth hormone and cortisol, leading to stress and imbalances in glucose metabolism and regulation.
This could explain why people who live near busy roads, with high levels of traffic, have elevated risks of stroke. The traffic noise causes stress, high blood pressure and sleep deprivation which escalate health issues. A proper sleep routine, with a regular bedtime and waking time, is as important to good health as a healthy diet and exercise.
Adequate sleep should be a high lifestyle priority in ensuring that you lead a healthy life. It is believed that when you sleep, healing and repair of tissues and organs takes place and your cardiovascular system gets that all-needed rest. So if you have been losing shut-eye due to prioritizing other commitments over your sleep, think again as the consequences may be more devastating than you realise!