A new study has researchers seeing a potential link between frequently experiencing bad sleep, and heart failure. 50,000 participants’ health was tracked for 11 years, to collect data for the study. They were between the ages of 20 and 89.
The research team found that those who often experienced issues getting to, and staying asleep, had a three times higher chance of encountering heart failure down the road. At this time, an absolute association between sleep problems and heart failure could not be drawn. However, the data does provide room for further research to explore the possibility.
Dr. Laugsand led the study, and commented on the results, saying, “We don’t know whether insomnia truly causes heart failure. But if it does, the good thing is it is a potentially treatable condition.” He continued, “So evaluating sleep problems might provide additional information in the prevention of heart failure.” In regards to how insomnia affects the body adversely, Dr. Laugsand said, “When you have insomnia your body releases stress hormones which in turn may effect the heart in a negative way,”
These findings come after a recent study from the University of Surrey, in England, found that sleeping less than six hours a night influenced the activity of over 700 genes in the body.
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