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Insufficient sleep leads to threat heart health, even taking long naps on weekends doesn’t compensate for sleep deficiency, a study finds
In a small-scale investigation, researchers demonstrated that key indicators of cardiovascular well-being, such as heart rate and blood pressure, worsen progressively throughout the week when an individual averages only about five hours of sleep per night. Despite attempting to make up for lost sleep during the weekends, these health metrics did not revert to their normal levels.
“Merely 65% of adults in the United States consistently achieve the recommended seven hours of nightly sleep, and substantial evidence suggests that this chronic sleep deficiency is linked to cardiovascular diseases over the long term,” explained Anne-Marie Chang, co-author of the study and associate professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State University.
Chang elaborated, “Our research brings to light a potential mechanism underlying this extended association, where a succession of impacts on your cardiovascular health during your youth could render your heart more susceptible to cardiovascular diseases in the future.”
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She made these comments in a statement released by the university. The study encompassed a group of 15 healthy men aged between 20 and 35, monitored over an 11-day duration.
Initially, participants were permitted to sleep up to 10 hours per night during the initial three nights, allowing researchers to establish a baseline. Subsequently, over the following five nights, the participants were restricted to just five hours of sleep each night.
This was followed by two nights of recovery, during which they were permitted to sleep for up to 10 hours each night.
Throughout the study, the researchers tracked participants’ resting heart rates and blood pressure every two hours throughout the day.
This approach enabled them to factor in any potential influence that the time of day might have, including the naturally lower heart rate upon waking.
The findings indicated a gradual increase in participants’ heart rates by nearly one beat per minute with each successive day of restricted sleep. The average baseline heart rate was 69 beats per minute, which had risen to 78 beats per minute by the study’s conclusion.
Systolic blood pressure exhibited a daily increase, rising from an initial average of 116 mm Hg to almost 119.5 mm Hg by the end of the recovery period. Systolic blood pressure, the upper value in a blood pressure reading, reflects artery pressure during heartbeats. (A reading of 120 or lower is considered within the normal range.)
Lead author and graduate student at Penn State, David Reichenberger, stated, “Both heart rate and systolic blood pressure increased with each successive day and did not return to baseline levels by the end of the recovery period.” He went on to highlight that despite having extra time for rest, the participants’ cardiovascular systems had not fully recuperated by the conclusion of the weekend.
Chang, Reichenberger’s advisor, suggested that lengthier periods might be necessary to recover from consecutive nights of sleep deprivation. She emphasized that sleep is not only a physiological process but also a behavioral one, influenced by our choices.
“Sleep profoundly influences not only our cardiovascular health but also our weight, mental well-being, concentration, and the quality of our interpersonal relationships, among other aspects,” Chang emphasized. “As our understanding of the significance of sleep deepens, along with its impact on various aspects of our lives, my hope is that it will increasingly be prioritized as a means to enhance overall health.”
The outcomes of the study were recently published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
