Suffering from lack of sleep? Then you are prone to heart attack or stroke; study finds insomnia increases the risk of heart failure

Chinese Researchers at the Chinese medical college Shenyang have made an important finding regarding the effects of insomnia.They found that people suffering from insomnia have 27 percent higher chances of suffering from heart attacks and strokes.It is found that women are more genetically prone to insomnia which can be attributed largely to their hormones.

Also Read: Research says that mothers suffer from more interrupted sleep than fathers after having children 

What is insomnia?

Insomnia is a sleep disorder wherein people find hard enough to have quality sleep or difficulty in falling asleep. Insomnia effects millions of people worldwide. People with insomnia suffer from sleeplessness and spend most of the time staying awake. As a result, they will get very little sleep or will have a poor quality sleep. 

Sleep is a very important activity for physical health as well as mental health and makes the person energized and refreshed.  Earlier studies have shown the effects of insomnia and its association with poor health but there is no clear evidence with regard to the heart attacks or stroke. The current study is the first of its kind where it brought to light the effects of insomnia and heart attacks or strokes. Researchers believe that insomnia raises blood pressure and alters metabolism thereby increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

To test the association between insomnia and heart attacks the researchers reviewed the 15 earlier studies that involved a number of 160,867 participants. They looked for the correlation among people suffering from insomnia symptoms and number of people who died from heart attacks.Researchers found that people who struggled to stay asleep are 11 percent higher chances of suffering from cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, people who did not feel refreshed after waking up had an 18% chance of suffering from a cardiovascular event.

Study author Qiao He said that sleep is very much important for biological recovery of an individual. Nowadays many people are suffering from insomnia symptoms. Qiao asserted that public awareness has to be created among people with regard to insomnia and the risks associated with it. This in a way encourages people with sleep problems to approach medical help immediately.

Also Read: Researchers find that people with obesity gene are more at risk when slept too long or too short

The Research findings were published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.  

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