Heart Disease & Sleep Link
People who miss out on sleep are more likely to develop hardening of their arteries, the early symptoms that lead to heart disease, according to US researchers.
Calcified arteries were found in nearly a third of people who slept fewer than five hours a night.
This dropped to less than 1 in 10 for those who slept six hours, according to the study of study of 495 adults published in the Journal of the American Medical Association .
In the study, the volunteers underwent two CT scans, designed to assess the build-up of calcium in the heart's arteries, five years apart.
They also filled out sleep questionnaires, kept a sleep diary and wore a wrist monitor for six nights that measured movement to give an estimate of how long they were actually lying still and asleep.
The first scan showed the volunteers had no calcification in their arteries but five years later 61 of them did, which appeared to be directly linked to lack of sleep.
The risk was lowest for those who regularly had more than seven hours sleep each night.
The University of Chicago, who lead the research said there were several possible explanations for the link that they found.
There may be some factor not yet identified that can both reduce sleep duration and increase calcification.
Or it might be due to blood pressure, high blood pressure increases the likelihood of calcification and blood pressure goes down during sleep.
Alternatively, stress or a stress hormone like cortisol, which has been tied to decreased sleep and increased calcification, may play a role.
The team spokesperson told the press "Although there are constant temptations to sleep less, there is a growing body of evidence that short sleep may have subtle health consequences.
Adding:"Although this single study does not prove that short sleep leads to coronary artery disease, it is safe to recommend at least six hours of sleep a night."
The British Heart Foundation's response was it was not yet clear quite how sleep affects heart disease risk, but this study adds to previous research suggesting that getting enough sleep may help to keep our heart and circulation healthy.
Sleep is essential for the body's ability to repair itself and with the party season in full flow, it is important to try and get enough rest.