Women who are not sleeping enough as well as those who are sleeping too much may have an increased risk of heart disease as compared with women who sleep eight hours a day.
Data was gathered from a survey of more than 71,000 women in 1986 that asked about sleep habits, and a subsequent survey in 1996 that recorded heart attacks.
Women who had slept five hours or less per night were 45 percent more likely to develop heart disease than women who had slept eight hours a night, while those who slept nine or more hours a night had a 38 percent greater risk, according to researchers.
Further, sleeping six hours a night resulted in an 18 percent higher risk and seven hours a nine percent higher risk of heart disease as compared with women who slept eight hours a night.
These results remained even after other factors, including snoring, smoking and body mass index (a measure of obesity), were accounted for.
Previous experiments have shown that short-term sleep deprivation (four hours a night for six nights) results in decreased glucose intolerance and increased blood pressure, however the long-term consequences of sleep deprivation are unknown. Researchers were also uncertain of why too much sleep might lead to heart disease,
Although further studies are needed to determine how sleep duration affects the risk of heart disease, researchers say that too little or too much sleep is associated with a modestly increased risk of heart disease.
Archives of Internal Medicine January 27, 2003;163:205-209
The fact that too little sleep is associated with disease is not surprising. Sleep is an essential nutrient and if you don’t receive an adequate amount you will clearly suffer health consequences.
The articles below, which I have previously posted, document the association of advanced aging and diabetes with too little sleep. This is a significant issue as one-third of the country is only sleeping six hours or less per night.
The electric light bulb allows us to stay up later than is ideal, as if we had to read by candlelight or an oil lamp after dark, most of us would choose to head to bed instead.
Another factor that is not addressed in this study is the timing of the sleep. It is clear that circadian rhythms need to be honored in order to achieve optimal health. There is a significant difference in six hours of sleep depending on the time, for example from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. versus 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Hours of sleep before midnight and in synch with the sunlight are far more effective at restoring your energy circuits. This has to do with hardwired biological circuits that we can’t control. For most of us this becomes a significant issue in the winter months when there is considerably less sunlight.
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Decrease Your Sleep and Increase Your Risk for Diabetes
Too Little Sleep May Accelerate Aging
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