Research on sleep habits and cardiovascular outcomes.



Research has historically linked prolonged sleep deprivation and disrupted sleep patterns to increased risk for developing or dying from stroke, heart attack and cardiovascular disorders. Completing a large-scale study involving 474,684 subjects from eight countries—including Japan, the United States, Sweden and the U.K.—who were followed for up to 25 years, a team from the University of Warwick in the U.K. found that sleeping fewer than six hours per night and having disturbed sleep puts a person at a 48 percent greater chance of developing or dying from heart disease and a 15 percent greater chance of developing or dying of a stroke. The team warns that both short and long durations of sleep “are predictors, or markers, of cardiovascular outcomes.”
Cappuccio, F.P., et al. (2011). Sleep duration predicts cardiovascular outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Eur Heart J. In press.
—Dr. Bob Goldman