Poor sleep habits up risk of heart attack: Study

People with poor sleep habits might run a higher risk of heart diseases as against those  those who had seven hours of good quality sleep every night, according to a study.

"Inadequate sleep is a common problem and a likely source of poor health, including visible signs of disease, such as heart attack," said study co-lead author Chan-Won Kim from Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea.

Researchers studied over 47,000 young and middle-aged adults who completed a sleep questionnaire and underwent advanced tests to detect early coronary artery lesions and measure arterial stiffness.

The early detection of coronary lesions came by way of the presence of calcium in the coronary arteries, an early sign of coronary heart disease.

The study showed that adults who slept five or fewer hours a day had 50 per cent more calcium in their coronary arteries than those who slept seven hours a day.

The findings further showed that those who slept nine or more hours a day had over 70 per cent more coronary calcium as against those who slept seven hours.

Adults who complained of poor sleep quality had over 20 per cent more coronary calcium than those who reported good sleep quality.

"We also observed a similar pattern when we measured arterial stiffness," study co-lead author Yoosoo Chang, associate professor at Kangbuk Samsun Hospital in South Korea, said.

''Many people, up to one third or one fourth of the general population, suffer from inadequate sleep – either insufficient duration of sleep or poor quality of sleep,'' Chan-Won Kim said.

A number of studies had linked inadequate sleep with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, though other conditions like depression or obesity could influence this association, Kim told Reuters Health by email.

''In contrast, we studied if sleep of inadequate duration or quality would be linked to early markers of heart disease in asymptomatic healthy adults free of heart disease,'' Kim said.

''The calcium score obtained by computerized tomography scan is a very good measure of calcium buildup in the coronary arteries reflecting coronary atherosclerosis,'' Kim said. ''The higher the coronary calcium score, the greater the risk of having a heart attack in the future.''

Those who reported poor sleep quality also tended to have more coronary calcium and more arterial stiffness.

''Adults with poor sleep quality have stiffer arteries than those who sleep seven hours a day or had good sleep quality,'' said Chang in a statement accompanying the study.

''Overall, we saw the lowest levels of vascular disease in adults sleeping seven hours a day and reporting good sleep quality.''

The further we get from the boundless energy of childhood, the quicker we seem to run out of steam. (See: To stay energised as you age, be active and well-rested).