Sleep Disruption Ups Heart Disease Risk

Sleep disruption, even in people who do not have sleep apnea or stress insomnia, ups blood clotting and heart disease, say U.S. researchers.

According to a new study, higher levels of spontaneous sleep disruption are linked to higher levels of compounds in the blood that are markers for clotting and predict cardiovascular disease, even in healthy, normal subjects.

Researcher Joel Dimsdale, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, led the study using full-night polysomnography on 135 men and women with an average age of 36 who had no history of sleep disorders, to record brain waves and airflow at the nose and mouth.

Sleep disruption needs to be taken seriously, said Dimsdale. It is known that certain forms of sleep disruption, such as obstructive sleep apnea, convey extensive cardiovascular risk. We now know that sleep disruption is a potential factor in heart disease even in the average person.

A report on the study was published in the March issue of CHEST.