People who sleep well have a lower risk of heart disease and stroke
Nine out of ten people do not sleep well at night, according to research presented at the ESC Congress 2022. The study found that suboptimal sleep was associated with a higher likelihood of heart disease and stroke. The authors estimated that seven out of ten of these cardiovascular conditions could be prevented if everyone slept well.
"The low prevalence of good sleepers was expected given our busy 24/7 lives," said study author Dr. Aboubakari Nambiema of INSERM (French National Institute for Health and Research). Medical), Paris, France. “The importance of sleep quality and quantity for heart health should be taught early in life when establishing healthy behaviors. Minimizing nighttime noise and stress at work can help improve sleep.”
Previous studies on sleep and heart disease have generally focused on a sleep habit, such as sleep duration or sleep apnea, where breathing stops and starts while sleeping. Additionally, previous studies have often assessed sleep only at baseline. The current study used a healthy sleep score that combined five sleep habits. The researchers investigated the association between baseline sleep score and changes over time in sleep score and incident cardiovascular disease.
This study included 7200 participants from the Paris Prospective Study III (PPP3), a community-based prospective observational cohort. Men and women aged 50 to 75 years free of cardiovascular disease were recruited at a preventive medical center between 2008 and 2011. The average age was 59.7 years and 62% were men. Participants underwent a physical examination and completed questionnaires about lifestyle, personal and family medical history, and medical conditions.
Questionnaires were used to collect information on five sleep habits at baseline and two follow-up visits. Each factor received 1 point if it was optimal and 0 if it was not. A healthy sleep score was calculated ranging from 0 to 5, with 0 or 1 considered poor and 5 considered optimal. Those with an optimal score reported sleeping 7 to 8 hours per night, never or rarely having insomnia, not having frequent excessive daytime sleepiness, no sleep apnea, and an early chronotype (being a morning person). The researchers reviewed incidents of coronary heart disease and stroke every two years for a total of 10 years.
At the start of the study, 10% of participants had an optimal sleep score and 8% had a poor score. During a median follow-up of eight years, 274 participants developed coronary heart disease or stroke. The researchers analyzed the association between sleep scores and cardiovascular events after adjusting for age, sex, alcohol consumption, occupation, smoking, body mass index, physical activity, cholesterol level, diabetes, and family history of heart attack. stroke or sudden cardiac death.
They found that the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke decreased by 22% for every 1-point increase in sleep score at baseline. More specifically, compared to those with a score of 0 or 1, participants with a score of 5 had a 75% lower risk of heart disease or stroke.
The researchers calculated the proportion of cardiovascular events that could be prevented with healthier sleep. They found that if all participants had an optimal sleep score, 72% of new cases of coronary heart disease and stroke could be prevented each year.
Over two follow-ups, almost half of the participants (48%) changed their sleep score: 25% decreased while 23% improved. When the researchers examined the association between the change in score and cardiovascular events, they found that an increase of 1 point over time was associated with a 7% reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease or stroke.
Dr Nambiema said: “Our study illustrates the potential of good sleep to preserve heart health and suggests that improving sleep is linked to lower risks of coronary heart disease and stroke. We also find that the vast majority of people have difficulty sleeping. "With cardiovascular disease being the leading cause of death worldwide, greater awareness is needed about the importance of good sleep to maintain a healthy heart."
