Not getting enough sleep ‘increases your risk of silent killer by 74%’
WE’VE all heard it before: not getting enough sleep can be bad for your health.
Now, a new study has added to the body of evidence about the repercussions of getting too little shut-eye.
Sleeping too little at night could nearly double your risk of clogged leg arteries, Swedish researchers have found.
Scientists from the Karolinska Institute said that if you get less than five hours of sleep each night, your risk of developing peripheral artery disease (PAD) jumps to 74 per cent, compared to people who manage to snooze for seven or eight hours.
Lead author Dr. Shuai Yuan said: “Our study suggests that sleeping for seven to eight hours a night is a good habit for lowering the risk of PAD.”
“Insufficient night-time sleep and daytime napping have previously been associated with a raised risk of coronary artery disease which, like PAD, is caused by clogged arteries,” he added.
Dr Yuan added that ‘sleeping problems are among the top ranked complaints in PAD patients’.
More than 200 million people globally have the disease that clogs arteries in the legs, restricting blood flow and increasing the risk of stroke and heart attack.
It’s a form of cardiovascular disease and is caused by a build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries, according to the NHS.
The British Heart Foundation estimates that about one in five people over 60 in the UK have some degree of PAD.
The Swedish study first looked at the link between amount of sleep, daytime napping and PAD in more than 650,000 participants.
They found that people who slept less than five hours per night had a nearly doubled risk of PAD compared to people who got seven to eight hours of shuteye.
Researchers then used the genetic data of 608,610 people to perform naturally randomised control trials, which allowed them to determine the cause of PAD in participants.
Dr Yuan explained that observational studies were not enough for researchers to be certain if sleep habits caused PAD or having PAD caused the sleep habits.
The trials allowed them to evaluate possible cause and provided more certainty about the results, he said.
Dr Yuan said: “The results indicate that brief night-time sleep can raise the chance of developing PAD, and that having PAD increases the risk of getting insufficient sleep.”
People who slept for eight hours or more per night were also 24 per cent more likely to get the disease.
While researchers found a link between the two, they weren’t able to find a causal relationship between PAD and long sleep.
Peripheral arterial disease causes and symptoms
PAD is a common condition where a build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries restricts blood supply to leg muscles.
You might have no symptoms if you have PAD – but you might also notice a painful ache in your legs when you walk, which disappears after a few minutes’ rest.
Other symptoms of PAD can include:
- hair loss on your legs and feet
- numbness or weakness in your legs
- brittle, slow-growing toenails
- ulcers (open sores) on your feet and legs that don’t heal
- changing skin colour on your legs: it could be paler than usual or blue but this may be harder to see on brown and black skin
- shiny skin
- in men, erectile dysfunction
- the muscles in your legs shrinking
You should see a GP if you experience recurring leg pain when exercising.
You might be more at risk of PAD is you:
- smoke
- have high blood pressure
- have high cholesterol
- are growing older
This was similar to the results of those who took naps.
Daytime nappers had a 32 per cent higher risk of the disease – but researchers couldn’t prove that napping was the cause of participant’s PAD.
“More studies are needed on the relationships between lengthy night-time sleep, daytime napping and PAD,” Dr Yuan said.
He concluded: “Lifestyle changes that help people get more sleep, such as being physically active, may lower the risk of developing PAD.
“For patients with PAD, optimising pain management could enable them to have a good night’s sleep.”
Previous research has shown that sleeping less than five hours a night could increase your risk of getting a blood clot by three quarters.
It could also predispose you to high blood pressure as well as a heart attack.
According to the NHS, adults need seven to nine hours of sleep.
Meanwhile, children need nine to 13, while babies and toddlers should get 12 to 17.