ISLAMABAD: A recent study has revealed that delaying bedtime by just 90 minutes each night can have detrimental effects on the cells lining blood vessels, supporting the hypothesis that poor sleep is linked to heart diseases, particularly among women.
Numerous surveys of thousands of individuals have consistently indicated that people reporting mild but chronic sleep deficits tend to have a higher risk of heart disease later in life compared to those who get adequate sleep.
A new study conducted by Columbia University, focusing on women and published in the journal Scientific Reports, sheds light on what occurs in the body during chronic, mild sleep deprivation, as reported by Medical Daily.
The study discovered that after just six weeks of shortened sleep, the cells that line our blood vessels become inundated with damaging oxidants. Unlike well-rested cells, those deprived of sleep fail to activate antioxidant responses to neutralize these harmful molecules.
As a result, these cells become inflamed and dysfunctional, representing an early stage in the development of cardiovascular disease.
Study leader Sanja Jelic, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Columbia, notes, “This is some of the first direct evidence to show that mild chronic sleep deficits cause heart disease.”
Poor Sleep Patterns Connected to Heart Diseases
For this study, researchers screened nearly 1,000 women and enrolled 35 healthy participants who typically sleep for seven to eight hours each night. These participants were monitored over a 12-week period, during which they maintained their usual sleep patterns for six weeks and then delayed bedtime by 1.5 hours for the remaining six weeks.
Wrist-worn sleep trackers were used to confirm each participant’s sleep patterns.
Jelic emphasized the importance of adequate sleep, saying, “Many problems could be solved if people sleep at least seven to eight hours per night.
The research team is currently planning a study to investigate whether irregular bedtime schedules have similar effects on vascular cells as chronic but regular sleep deprivation.
