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Adults with the healthiest sleeping patterns have a 42 per cent lower risk
of heart failure than those with unhealthy sleep habits, according to new
research.
Heart failure affects more than 26 million people and emerging evidence has
indicated that sleep problems may play a role its development, so a study
was conducted to test the relationship between heart failure and sleep, with
a healthy sleeping pattern featuring attributes such as rising in the
morning, sleeping seven to eight hours a day and having no frequent
insomnia, snoring, or excessive daytime sleepiness.
Researchers analysed data from 408,802 UK Biobank participants who were aged
37 to 73 when they were recruited between 2006 and 2010. The team collected
data on sleep quality and overall sleep patterns, while incidence of heart
failure was collected until April 2019.
"The healthy sleep score we created was based on the scoring of... five
sleep behaviours," said Lu Qi, corresponding author and professor of
epidemiology and director of the Obesity Research Center at Tulane
University in New Orleans. "Our findings highlight the importance of
improving overall sleep patterns to help prevent heart failure."
After they adjusted for factors such as diabetes, hypertension, and
medication use, they found those with the healthiest sleep pattern had a 42
per cent reduction in the risk of heart failure compared to people with an
unhealthy sleep pattern.
In addition, they discovered the risk of heart failure was eight per cent
lower in early risers; 12 per cent lower in those who slept seven to eight
hours a day, 17 per cent lower in those who did not have frequent insomnia;
and 34 per cent lower in those who didn't experience daytime sleepiness.
The findings were published on Monday in the American Heart Association's
flagship journal Circulation.
