Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Heart diseases and sleep correlation
Sleep plays a vital role in increasing the risk of death from heart diseases. British Researchers found that cutting sleep time by 2 hours (optimal 7 hours to 5 hours) will double the death risk from heart diseases. Increased sleep duration from 7 to 8 hours a night will also increase the mortality rate from cardiovascular diseases. Short sleep is a risk factor for weight gain, Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension. But researchers failed to find the mechanism by which long sleep will increase heart attack risk. 
Image courtesy: Experts in Sleep.
A person generally needs 7 hours of sleep for ideal functioning of the body. Sleep will prepare the body for healthy functioning by physiological restitution and recovery. Lack of sufficient sleep will alter the dynamics of body metabolism and cause lifestyle diseases.
This research was done by scientists from the University of Warwick and University College London and was published in the "Sleep" journal. This extensive study was done on 10,308 civil servants over 17 years to understand the correlation between sleep and heart attack risk. They adjusted for a range of factors such as age, sex, marital status, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, employment grade, physical activity, alcohol consumption; self rated health, blood pressure, cholesterol, illnesses, and others.
Cardiovascular diseases are responsible for 25% of deaths in Britain. 30% British adults sleep less than 5 hours or less. Persons in low stressful jobs may not need 7 hours of sleep but busy executives should need 7 hours of night sllep.
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1 comments:
Good info
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