2023-11-29 09:00:50
by Anna Fregonara
US study on over 400 patients: a low-quality night’s rest appears to be associated with a 15% greater risk of having an episode of heart arrhythmia and therefore a cerebral stroke
Poor sleep doesn’t just make you feel drained the next day. Researchers from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) have found another reason to sleep better: a low-quality night’s rest appears, in fact, to be associated with a 15% greater risk of having an episode of atrial fibrillation and the Continuing to sleep poorly may be associated with longer episodes of fibrillation.
The researchers reached this conclusion using 15,755 days of data from 419 patients who assessed the quality of their sleep every night and who were equipped with mobile electrocardiograms to measure the episodes. According to the researchers, these results, which appeared on the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Clinical Electrophysiology suggest that the quality of night’s rest may be a potentially modifiable trigger factor, relevant to the short-term risk of a discrete episode of fibrillation.
What is fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. characterized by a chaotic and disorganized contraction of the atria of the heart, resulting in a loss of their contractile efficiency, and by an irregular and high frequency of the ventricles with a less physiological distribution of blood to our body. The risk of cerebral stroke can therefore increase, explains Roberto Pedretti, director of the Cardiovascular Department at the IRCSS MultiMedica in Sesto San Giovanni (Milan) and member of the Board of Directors of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology.
The arrhythmia can be permanently present (permanent form) or stop, spontaneously (paroxysmal form) or following treatment (persistent form) with antiarrhythmic drugs or electrical cardioversion. If some patients remain completely asymptomatic, others complain of symptoms of a different nature such as palpitations, chest pain, dyspnea (shortness of breath), fatigue up to loss of consciousness and heart failure.
What the research suggests
The association between sleep-disordered breathing and atrial fibrillation has been known for some time. In particular, numerous cohort studies have demonstrated a link between obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and atrial fibrillation. Furthermore, observational data suggest that treatment of obstructive apnea can reduce fibrillation. This study, for the first time, analyzes the relationship between atrial fibrillation and sleep quality, among other things with a clear dose-response relationship and providing convincing evidence regarding the fact that the acute interruption of night rest determines a greater risk and a short-term atrial arrhythmias, continues Pedretti.
These findings may have important clinical and research implications: in addition to arrhythmia-specific therapies, strategies to improve overall sleep quality could be useful for the prevention and treatment of atrial fibrillation. Targeted pharmacological therapeutic interventions may also be possible to minimize the risk of an episode of atrial fibrillation after a night of insufficient sleep, for example by taking a higher dose of a beta-blocker on medical indication, as the authors themselves report.
Practical advice
Gregory M. Marcus, cardiologist and electrophysiologist at UCSF Health and one of the authors of the study, recalled how there are behaviors that can significantly improve the quality of sleep: going to bed at the same time as much as possible, avoiding alcohol and caffeine before bedtime, use your bed only for sleeping, get regular exercise, keep your room cool, avoid naps and wake up at the same time every day.
It is equally important to stop using the computer and electronic devices at least an hour before you go to sleep, to make it easier for you to fall asleep and then obtain a more regular sleep, adds Pedretti. If you think you may be suffering from sleep disorders, for example sleep apnea, it is extremely important to contact a specialized center for the necessary diagnostic investigations.
Who suffers the most
The prevalence of atrial fibrillation is 2-4% in the United States, it tends to occur more in men and its occurrence increases with increasing age. This is a real “epidemic”: at the age of 55, in the European population the risk of developing atrial fibrillation in life concerns 1 in 3 people. As far as Italy is concerned, this disorder affects 1 million people with 120 thousand new cases every year, concludes the cardiologist.
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November 29, 2023 (changed November 29, 2023 | 08:00)
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