NEW DELHI — People with poor sleep for just three nights may be at an
increased risk of developing heart diseases, according to a study.
With chronic lack of sleep growing as a public health
concern, researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden found that disturbed
sleep may raise inflammation, increasing the risk of heart disease.
“Many of the larger studies that have been done on the link
between sleep deprivation and the risk of cardiovascular diseases have
generally focused on slightly older individuals who already have an increased
risk of such diseases. That is why it was interesting that the levels of these
proteins increased in the same way in younger and previously perfectly healthy
individuals after only a few nights of sleep deprivation. This means that it’s
important to emphasise the importance of sleep for cardiovascular health even
early in life,” said Jonathan Cedernaes, a physician at Uppsala
University.
The team analysed 16 healthy young men of normal weight
-- all with healthy sleep habits.
The participants spent time in a sleep laboratory where
their meals and activity levels were strictly controlled in two sessions.
In one session, participants got a normal amount of sleep
for three consecutive nights, while during the other session, they got only
about four hours of sleep each night. During both sessions, morning and evening
blood samples were taken, and following high-intensity exercise lasting 30
minutes.
The researchers measured the levels of around 90 proteins
in the blood and were able to see that the levels of many of these that are
associated with increased inflammation rose when the participants were sleep-deprived.
Many of these proteins have already been linked to an
increased risk of cardiovascular disease such as heart failure and coronary
artery disease, said the researchers, in the study published in the journal
Biomarker Research.
Further, the team found that physical exercise generated
a slightly different response after a lack of sleep.
However, the number of key proteins increased equally,
whether the person was sleep-deprived or not. Thus, proteins that can be linked
to the positive effects of exercise increased, even if the person had too
little sleep.
The researchers have previously shown that exercise in
the presence of sleep deprivation can result in a slightly increased load on
the heart’s muscle cells.
Cedernaes said that “further research is needed to
investigate how these effects might differ in women, older individuals,
patients with heart disease, or those with different sleep patterns".
