Study Finds Less Sleep Raises Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

According to a study published in the December 2012 issue of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, diabetes patients who do not get enough sleep may be at a greater risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The researchers analyzed the risk of CVD in hypertensive patients with and without diabetes in Japan. To assess the impact of diabetes combined with short sleep duration on CVD risk, participants were split into 4 groups: diabetes present with short sleep duration, diabetes present with long sleep duration, diabetes absent with short sleep duration, and diabetes absent with long sleep duration.

Short sleep duration was defined as less than 7.5 hours of sleep, and participants recorded their own sleep duration in diaries. CVD events included heart attack, stroke, sudden cardiac death, angina, heart failure, and end-stage renal disease.

The researchers performed the experiment twice, following the first group of participants for 6 years and the second group for 10 years. Researchers reviewed the patients’ medical records once every year to record any CVD events.

The researchers found that the group of diabetes patients with short sleep duration had a significantly higher amount of CVD events compared with all other groups. The researchers also found a connection between glycemic control, short sleep duration, and CVD incidents, concluding that these conditions may increase risk of CVD as well.