Too Little or Too Much Sleep May Lead to Heart Problems

Do you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a jaw-dropping 70 million Americans suffer from some type of sleep disorder. While some people brush off insomnia and similar conditions as being nothing more than a nuisance that impacts their energy levels, a new study suggests that it could also hurt your heart.

Researchers at the Center for Cohort Studies at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital and Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea conducted a study to determine the effects that lack of sleep have on a person's heart health. Researcher recruited some 47,000 men and women to participate in the study, asking them a series of questions regarding their sleep habits and overall health.

Next, researchers performed tests to determine participants' heart health, looking for signs like coronary lesion, artery stiffness, and the amount of calcium in arteries connected to the heart. As noted in the researchers' report, excessive calcium buildups in the arteries is a key indicator of heart disease.

Researchers found that participants who slept for fewer than five hours per night had 50% more calcium in their arteries when compared to participants who slept seven hours. Based on this information alone, you may assume that more sleep equals better heart health, but researchers were quick to issue a warning, saying that getting too much sleep is just as bad (if not worse) that not getting enough sleep.

Participants who slept for a total of nine hours or more per night had 70% more calcium in their arteries when compared to participants who slept seven hours.

"We also observed a similar pattern when we measured arterial stiffness," said Dr. Yoosoo Chang, co-lead author of the study and associate professor in the Center for Cohort Studies at Kangbuk Samsun Hospital. "Adults with poor sleep quality have stiffer arteries than those who sleep seven hours a day or had good sleep quality. Overall, we saw the lowest levels of vascular disease in adults sleeping seven hours a day and reporting good sleep quality."

So to recap, you should strive for seven to eight hours of sleep per night, no more, no less. This seems to deliver the best results in terms of health for adults 18 years of age or older. For children, however, sleep recommendations are different, with experts stressing the importance of getting more than the normal eight hours per night.

This study was published in the October issue of the Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.