A study from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, published in the journal Sleep Medicine, reveals a striking link between circadian rhythm, or sleep-wake patterns, and artery calcification, particularly in the coronary arteries.
This research highlights the importance of circadian rhythm, especially for heart and blood vessel health, in the early stages of artery calcification, also known as atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis is characterized by fatty deposits accumulating inside arteries, leading to a reduced blood flow and potentially causing angina, blood clots, heart attacks, or strokes.
This disease develops over a long period and often goes unnoticed until it results in these serious conditions.
The study involved 771 men and women aged between 50 and 64, all part of the SCAPIS (Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study) project.
Participants underwent computer tomography to examine the degree of calcification in their heart’s coronary arteries.
They also self-reported their chronotype – whether they were extreme morning types, somewhat morning types, neither, somewhat evening types, or extreme evening types.
The findings were significant:
- Among those who were most alert in the morning (extreme morning types), 22.2% had pronounced artery calcification, the lowest among all groups.
- In contrast, the extreme evening type group had the highest incidence of severe coronary artery calcification at 40.6%.
Mio Kobayashi Frisk, a doctoral student at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, and the first author of the study, notes that these results link the extreme evening chronotype not only to poorer cardiovascular health in general but also more specifically to coronary artery calcification.
The study controlled for various factors that could affect artery calcification risk, such as blood pressure, blood lipids, weight, physical activity, stress level, sleep, and smoking.
Ding Zou, the last author of the study, emphasizes the importance of considering individual circadian rhythm as a significant risk factor for artery calcification, especially early in the disease process.
This suggests that circadian rhythm should be factored into preventive treatments for cardiovascular diseases.
One limitation of the study is that it relied on self-reported chronotypes. The researchers also excluded individuals who had experienced a heart attack, meaning the study participants were healthier than the general population.
The SCAPIS project is a unique, large-scale research initiative focusing on cardiac, vascular, and pulmonary disease.
It involves extensive health examinations of 30,000 randomly selected Swedes aged 50–64, conducted by six universities and university hospitals in close collaboration with the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation.
This study provides valuable insights into how sleep-wake patterns might influence cardiovascular health, particularly in terms of artery calcification, and underscores the importance of circadian rhythms in preventive healthcare strategies.
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The research findings can be found in Sleep Medicine.
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