In a new study, researchers found that people with the healthiest sleep patterns had a 42% lower risk of heart failure regardless of other risk factors compared to adults with unhealthy sleep patterns.
Healthy sleep patterns are rising in the morning, sleeping 7-8 hours a day and having no frequent insomnia, snoring, or excessive daytime sleepiness.
The research was conducted by a team at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Heart failure affects more than 26 million people, and emerging evidence indicates sleep problems may play a role in the development of heart failure.
This study examined the relationship between healthy sleep patterns and heart failure and included data on 408,802 UK Biobank participants, ages 37 to 73 at the time of recruitment (2006-2010).
Researchers recorded 5,221 cases of heart failure during a follow-up of 10 years.
They analyzed sleep quality as well as overall sleep patterns.
The measures of sleep quality included sleep duration, insomnia and snoring and other sleep-related features, such as whether the participant was an early bird or night owl and if they had any daytime sleepiness (likely to unintentionally doze off or fall asleep during the daytime).
The healthy sleep score we created was based on the scoring of these five sleep behaviors.
The team found people with the healthiest sleep pattern had a 42% reduction in the risk of heart failure compared to people with an unhealthy sleep pattern.
They also found the risk of heart failure was independently associated and 8% lower in early risers, 12% lower in those who slept 7 to 8 hours daily; 17% lower in those who did not have frequent insomnia; and 34% lower in those reporting no daytime sleepiness.
The researchers say that these findings highlight the importance of improving overall sleep patterns to help prevent heart failure.
One author of the study is Lu Qi, M.D., Ph.D.
The study is published in Circulation.
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