A new research by scientists has shown that chronic lack of sleep and poor sleep quality raise the risk of fatty plaque accumulation in arteries — a condition known as atherosclerosis, which increases the odds of heart attack and stroke. Findings of a new study published in the ‘Journal of the American College of Cardiology,’ shows that people who slept less than six hours a night were 27 per cent more likely to have body-wide atherosclerosis than those who slept seven to eight hours a night.
Atherosclerosis is a disease in which plaque builds up inside the arteries. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to the heart and other parts of the body. Plaque is made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances found in the blood. Over time, plaque hardens and narrows the arteries. Based on the study, the lead researcher, Jose Ordovas, said the current study emphasised the importance of including sleep as one of the weapons used to fight heart disease — a factor that many people compromise every day.
Ordovas is an investigator at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research in Madrid, Spain. According to the team, six hours is the minimum amount of sleep per night one needs to help the heart stay healthy. Too much sleep wasn’t great for the heart, either.
The study also found that women who slept more than eight hours a night had an increased risk of atherosclerosis. Participants with “poor-quality” sleep — frequent awakenings or difficulty getting to sleep — were also 34 per cent more likely to have atherosclerosis, compared to those with good-quality sleep. People who had short and poor-quality sleep also tended to consume higher levels of caffeine and alcohol, Ordovas noted.
“Many people think alcohol is a good inducer of sleep, but there’s a rebound effect,” he said. “If you drink alcohol, you may wake up after a short period of sleep and have a hard time getting back to sleep. And if you do get back to sleep, it’s often a poor-quality sleep.”
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