Sleep Duration Crucial Factor in Subclinical Atherosclerosis and Cardiovascular Health

A new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology indicated that sleep duration plays a significant role in their overall cardiovascular health.

The researchers performed seven-day actigraphic recording of 3,974 middle-age participants (62.6% men) from the Progression of Early Subclinical Atherosclerosis (PESA) study. The participants were assigned to one of four groups for very short sleep duration (<6 hours), short sleep duration (6 to 7 hours), reference sleep duration (7 to 8 hours), and long sleep duration (>8 hours). They used 3-D vascular ultrasound and cardiac computed tomography to quantify noncoronary atherosclerosis and coronary calcification.

Shorter sleeping times & fragmented sleep = increased risk of subclinical atherosclerosis. Healthy sleep important 4 prevention of cardiovascular disease @drchatterjeeuk @DrScottLear@DrScottMurray @xandvt @DrMichaelMosley @bacpr@BMJNutrition @KCLLifeMedhttps://t.co/b74Kx3XQBr

— Nelson Amaral (@DrNelsonAmaral) January 14, 2019

The results indicated that when adjusted for risk factors, very short sleep duration was independently associated with higher atherosclerotic burden compared to the reference group (P=0.008). Those in the highest quartiles of sleep fragmentation had a higher prevalence of multiple affected noncoronary territories (P=0.006).

Lower sleeping times and fragmented sleep are independently associated with an ⤴️ risk of subclinical multiterritory atherosclerosis.
🎯importance of healthy sleep habits for the prevention of cardiovascular disease #RiesgoVascular @secardiologia
📎 https://t.co/0OxeixoT39 pic.twitter.com/wc06z74PwW

— Alfonso Valle (@ValleAlfonso) January 14, 2019

“We saw that the participants that slept less than 6 hours per day or had a very fragmented sleep presented more cholesterol plaques compared to those who slept more hours or had less fragmented sleep,” lead author Fernando Domínguez, MD, concluded in a press release. “Sleep duration and quality are of vital importance in cardiovascular health.”

New research in @JACCJournals shows that short #sleep duration is related to a higher risk of plaque buildup in the arteries, increasing the chance of developing #heartdisease. @ResearchSleep https://t.co/YjMn5I7wz8 pic.twitter.com/xKOvpfm2c7

— Society for Research on Biological Rhythms (@SRBR_Outreach) January 14, 2019

Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, and Daniel J. Gottlieb, MD, noted in an accompanying editorial that the research team had, using well-validated methods and techniques, addressed some  limitations of observational studies from more than 5 decades worth of research on sleep duration and obesity, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and death.

https://twitter.com/RoxannePrichard/statuses/1085159369820520448

Source: Journal of the American College of Cardiology