Los Angeles: Six, seven or eight -- so how many hours of sleep are enough for you? It`s probably best to aim for seven hours of quality shut-eye every night, says a new study led by an Indian-origin researcher.
Anoop Shankar and his team at West Virginia University has found that those who sleep more or less than seven hours a day are at a raised risk of developing coronary heart disease, the Sleep` journal reported.
They have based their findings on an analysis of data gathered in a national US study in 2005 on 30,000 adults.
The study found found that the subjects who said they slept nine hours or longer a day were one-and-a-half times more likely than seven-hour sleepers to develop heart disease.
And, adults under 60 who slept five hours or fewer a night raised their risk of developing cardiovascular disease more than threefold compared to people who sleep seven hours, the study found.
According to the researchers, short sleep duration is associated with angina, while both sleeping too little and too much are linked to heart attack and stroke.
The results remained the same after considering age, sex, race, whether the person smoked or drank, whether they were fat or slim, and whether they`re active or couch potato.
However, the researchers were unable to find out the exact reason between how long one sleeps and heart disease. But they pointed out sleep duration affects endocrine and metabolic functions and sleep deprivation lead to impaired glucose tolerance, reduced insulin sensitivity and elevated blood pressure, all of which raise risk of hardening arteries.
Shankar said that doctors should screen for changes in sleep duration when assessing patients` risk for heart disease and that public health initiatives consider including a focus on improving sleep quality and quantity.
PTI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.