The findings by the researchers led by an Associate Professor in the Cardiology Department at Maastricht University Medical Centre (The Netherlands) showed that there is a link between the frequency and duration of unconscious wakefulness during night-time sleep and an increased risk of dying from diseases of the heart and blood vessels, and death from any cause, particularly in women.

They noted that brief intrusions of unconscious wakefulness, so-called cortical arousals, are a normal feature of sleep. They occur spontaneously or are elicited by sleep-disordered breathing and periodic limb movements during sleep, trauma, pain, temperature, light, and traffic noise.

“Arousals, irrespective of the underlying mechanism, impact heart rate, blood pressure, and cardiac haemodynamics acutely; but, when frequent, may also disrupt the circadian rhythm of the cardiovascular system, which is associated with unfavourable metabolic profiles, such as higher blood pressure, dysregulated blood lipids, and insulin resistance.

“Additionally, traffic noise, particularly when occurring during the night, has been shown to be a risk factor of cardiovascular disease through increased levels of stress hormones and vascular oxidative stress,” they said.

According to the scientists, cardiovascular risk factors are more prevalent in participants with high nocturnal arousal burden, while cardiovascular disease and arrhythmias are known to contribute to increased mortality.

The researchers also reported a higher prevalence of diabetes in women with arousal burden, corroborating the link between short sleep, type 2 diabetes, and glucose metabolism. However, they did not observe this relationship in men.

Speaking further, Moronkola said that the findings of the study elaborate previous knowledge that that sleep duration is associated with increased risks of death from cardiovascular or other causes.

“The reality is that studies have shown that lack of proper sleep can lead to cardiovascular risk. So, there are individuals that though they sleep, have sleep wastefulness, i.e. they wake up unconsciously at night several times.

“This can be found mostly with people who have Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” he said.

OSA is a condition in which breathing stops involuntarily for brief periods during sleep.

“In such instances, it pushes the individual to develop cardiovascular risk and direct risk of developing heart attack, stroke heart failure.

“So, frequent wastefulness at night has been shown to put an individual at the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

“Even people who have poor sleep can be at risk and that is why we advocate sleep hygiene.

“The number of hours you sleep, the time you sleep, and how you sleep are all important,” the cardiologist added.

source: Punch