Insomnia, one of the problems of the 21st century, can make us live less, especially women. According to a study presented during the Annual Scientific Congress of the American College of Cardiologypeople with insomnia were 69% more likely to have a heart attack compared with those without the sleep disorder during an average follow-up of nine years.
Additionally, by looking at sleep duration as an objective measure of insomnia, the researchers found that people who slept five or fewer hours a night had the highest risk of heart attack. And those with diabetes and insomnia were twice as likely to have a heart attack.
“Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, but in many ways it is no longer just a disease, it is more of a life choice. We just don’t prioritize sleep as much as we should.” Yomna E. Dean, study author. “Our study showed that people with insomnia are more likely to have a heart attack regardless of age, with heart attacks occurring more frequently in women with insomnia.”
Insomnia can include trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting a good night’s sleep. With an increasing prevalence, it affects more women than men.
“Insomnia should be considered a risk factor for developing a heart attack, and we need to do a better job of educating people about how dangerous a lack of good sleep can be,” Dean says.
For their analysis, published in “Clinical Cardiology,” the researchers conducted a systematic review of 1,226 studies; of these, nine studies originating from the US, UK, Norway, Germany, Taiwan and China were selected for inclusion. In total, data from 1,184,256 adults (43% of whom were women) were evaluated.
The mean age was 52 years and 13% (153,881) suffered from insomnia, which was defined based on the ICD diagnostic codes or by the presence of any of these three symptoms: difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep or waking up early and not being able to get up.
People with obstructive sleep apnea were not included. Most of the patients (96%) had no history of myocardial infarction. Heart attacks occurred in 2,406 of those with insomnia and 12,398 of those in the group without insomnia.
Insomnia can include trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping well
Additionally, people who reported getting five or fewer hours of sleep a night were 1.38 and 1.56 times more likely to have a heart attack compared with those who got six to seven to eight hours of sleep a night, respectively. There was no difference in heart attack risk between those who slept five or fewer or nine or more hours a night, Dean adds, supporting findings from previous studies that have shown that too little or too much sleep can be detrimental to health. from the heart.
In a separate analysis, the researchers sought to determine whether individual insomnia symptoms are associated with increased risk of heart attack. Disordered sleep initiation and maintenance, that is, problems falling asleep or staying asleep, were also associated with a 13% increased chance of having a heart attack compared to people without these symptoms.
However, unrefreshing sleep and daytime dysfunction were not associated with heart attack, suggesting that those who only complain of not feeling refreshed upon awakening without sleep deprivation are not at increased risk of heart attack.
The study had some limitations, including that most of the studies evaluated relied on participants self-reporting their sleep behaviors using questionnaires, although heart attacks were validated by medical reports.