Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Sleep and heart disease

Certain sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea have been linked with cardiovascular disease. This article reviews research about sleep duration and quality and coronary artery disease. I only have access to the article and the abstract. Researchers asked subjects to rate their sleep quality and the amount of sleep they get. The results showed that those who slept 5 or less hours, or 9 or more hours, had increased rates of coronary artery calcification and stiffness - both of which are early signs of coronary artery disease.

As far as I can tell, sleep quality and duration were assessed via questionnaire. There was no sleep study or other objective sleep duration measurement such as actigraphy. So it could be that some of the subjects had poor sleep quality from un-diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea, and that could account for some of the increased rates in coronary artery disease.

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