Poor sleep ‘linked with higher stroke and heart attack risk’

A new study has indicated that poor sleep should be considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, along with smoking, lack of exercise and poor diet.

Conducted as part of a World Health Organization programme looking at the relationship between sleep disturbances and the risk of developing a heart attack or stroke, the research examined a sample of 657 men aged 25 to 64 years.

It was found that 63 percent of participants who had a heart attack also had a sleeping disorder, which were also closely associated with negative affective states such as anxiety, depression, hostility and vital exhaustion.

Men with a sleeping disorder had a risk of myocardial infarction that was two to 2.6 times higher than the average, as well as a stroke risk that was 1.5 to four times greater.

Professor Valery Gafarov, professor of cardiology at the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in Novosibirsk, said: "Until now there has not been a population-based cohort study examining the impact of sleep disorders on the development of a heart attack or stroke."