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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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What Is the Link Between Insomnia And Heart Disease? Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout the life. It is important for biological recovery and takes around a third of the lifetime. During sleep, the body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain the physical health. In children and teens, sleep also helps support growth and development. Unfortunately, many people are unable to have good quality sleep. Insomnia, for instance, is a common sleep disorder that regularly affects millions of people worldwide. It is characterized by difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, or waking up too early in the morning (or all three). People with insomnia usually have symptoms such as sleepiness, fatigue, lack of energy, moodiness, difficulty concentrating. They may also have irritability, depression, or anxiety; tension headaches (feels like a tight band around head); difficulty socializing; gastrointestinal symptoms. There are 3 types of insomnia: transient insomnia occurs when symptoms last up to 3 nights; acute insomnia (or short-term insomnia) happens when symptoms persist for several weeks; and chronic insomnia that can last for months or even years.
Insomnia can be caused by disruptions in circadian
rhythm such as jet lag, job shift changes, high altitudes, environmental noise,
extreme heat or cold; psychological issues like bipolar disorder, depression,
anxiety disorders, or psychotic disorders; estrogen, hormone shifts during
menstruation; sleeping next to a snoring partner, parasites, genetic conditions,
overactive mind, pregnancy. Medical conditions such as chronic pain, chronic
fatigue syndrome, acid-reflux disease (GERD), chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, asthma, congestive heart failure and angina can also cause insomnia.
While anyone can experience insomnia occasionally, people with heart failure are likely to suffer from it more frequently and more severely than others. Almost 75 percent of people who have heart failure report frequent insomnia. Patients with heart failure are often under the stress of having a chronic illness and likely to develop depression that can cause insomnia. Meanwhile, the common symptoms of heart failure like orthopnea, shortness of breath when lying flat can disrupt sleep. The diuretic medication prescribed to most patients with heart failure can also disrupt sleep by causing the patients to get up and urinate at night. Sleep apnea is found in up to 50 percent of patients with heart failure. Sleep apnea tends to make heart failure worse, and worsening heart failure often makes sleep apnea worse. Meanwhile, two kinds of nocturnal movement disorder, namely restless leg syndrome (RLS) and periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), that can interrupt sleep are more likely to happen in patients with heart failure. Patients with restless leg syndrome have symptoms including burning, twitching, and/or creeping sensations that cause sufferers to begin moving their legs around for relief. These symptoms typically occur upon getting into bed for a night’s sleep. PLMD is similar to RLS in that it involves an involuntary movement of the legs (jerking, kicking or twitching) associated with sleep. The main difference is that PLMD occurs during sleep and often causes an interruption in deep sleep and so produces sleep deprivation. On the other hand, insomnia can lead to cardiovascular disease, too. A research published online January 30, 2017 in ‘Journal Chest’ suggested that insomnia is associated with an increased incident risk of hypertension, heart failure, and coronary heart disease in patients with insomnia. In another study that was published online March 30, 2017 in ‘European Heart Journal’, Chinese researchers at China Medical University in Shenyang found that insomnia is linked to elevated risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack) and stroke, after analyzing 15 prospective cohort studies with a total of 160,867 participants. In the study, insomnia symptoms included difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, early-morning awakening, and non-restorative sleep.
Results of analysis indicated that difficulty
initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, or non-restorative sleep were
associated with 27 percent, 11 percent, and 18 percent higher risks of
cardiovascular and stroke events, respectively. There was no association between
early-morning awakening and adverse events. Women with insomnia symptoms had a
slightly higher risk of cardiovascular and stroke events than men, especially
for non-restorative sleep. However, they cannot conclude that insomnia is more
dangerous for women because the difference did not reach statistical
significance. Date: August 8, 2019
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