According to a study, less than five hours of sleep a night is associated with a 74 percent increased risk of developing peripheral artery disease (PAD), compared to seven to eight hours of insomnia. The researchers found that over 200 million people worldwide suffer from PAD, which is a condition in which the vessels in the legs become blocked, restricting blood flow and increasing the risk of stroke and heart attack.
“Our study suggests that sleeping seven to eight hours a night is a good habit to reduce the risk of PAD,” said study author Shuai Yuan from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. “Inadequate nighttime sleep and daytime naps have previously been linked to an increased risk of coronary artery disease, which like PAD is caused by clogged arteries,” Yuan said in a statement.
The researchers found that sleep problems are among the most common complaints in PAD patients. There is limited data on the impact of sleep habits on PAD and vice versa, and the study aims to fill this gap. Published in the European Heart Journal Open, the study involved more than 650,000 participants and was conducted in two parts.
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First, the researchers analyzed the associations of sleep duration and daytime naps with the risk of PAD. In the second part, they conducted experiments using genetic data to investigate the cause of these associations.
“Observational analyzes are limited by reverse causality — that is, if an association is found between sleep habits and PAD, we cannot be sure whether sleep habits caused PAD or PAD caused the sleep habits,” Yuan said. Taken together, the strongest evidence for a short sleep where the relationship with PAD went both ways.
In an observational analysis of 53,416 adults, sleeping less than five hours a night was associated with almost twice the risk of PAD compared to seven to eight hours, the researchers said. This finding was supported by further analyzes of 156,582 and 452,028 people. In the causal studies, short sleep was associated with an increased risk of PAD, and in addition, PAD was associated with an increased likelihood of short sleep.
“The results indicate that a short night’s sleep may increase the likelihood of developing PAD and that having PAD increases the risk of sleep deprivation,” Yuan said. Regarding long sleep, in an observational analysis of 53,416 adults, sleeping eight hours or more per night was associated with a 24 percent higher risk of PAD compared to sleeping seven to eight hours.
This finding was supported by analyzes in two larger populations of 156,582 and 452,028 individuals. However, no causal relationships have been found between long sleep and PAD, the researchers said.
“More studies are needed on the relationships between long night sleeps, daytime naps and PAD,” Yuan added.
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