Insomnia, one of the problems of the 21st century, can make our lives less, especially for women. According to a study presented during American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Congresspeople with insomnia were 69% more likely to have a heart attack compared to those without sleep disturbances during a median 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 hours or less each 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 a disease, but a life choice. We just don’t prioritize sleep as much as we should.” Yomna E. Dean, study author. “Our study shows that people with insomnia are more likely to have a heart attack regardless of age, with heart attacks more common in women with insomnia.”
Insomnia can include difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting a good night’s sleep. With 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 sleep deprivation can be,” said Dean.
For 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) had insomnia, as defined by the ICD diagnostic code or by the presence of one of these three symptoms: difficulty falling asleep, difficulty falling asleep or early awakening and no sleep. able to wake up.
People with obstructive sleep apnea were excluded. Most of the patients (96%) had no history of myocardial infarction. Heart attacks occurred in 2,406 people with insomnia and 12,398 people in the group without insomnia.
Insomnia can include difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too well
Additionally, people who reported sleeping five hours or less each night were 1.38 and 1.56 times more likely to have a heart attack compared to those who slept six to seven to eight hours each night, respectively. There was no difference in heart attack risk between those who slept five or less or nine hours or more a night, Dean added, supporting findings from previous studies showing that too little or too much sleep can be detrimental to the health of the heart. .
In a separate analysis, the researchers sought to determine whether individual insomnia symptoms were associated with an increased risk of heart attack. Initiation and maintenance of irregular sleep, i.e. problems falling or staying asleep, was also associated with a 13% increased chance of having a heart attack compared to people without these symptoms.
However, unrefreshing sleep and daytime dysfunction are not associated with heart attack, showed that those who only complained of not feeling refreshed when they woke up without sleep deprivation were not at high risk of heart attack.
This study had several limitations, including that most of the studies evaluated relied on participants self-reporting their sleep behavior using a questionnaire, even though heart attacks were validated by medical reports.
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