Short and sleepless nights are common for many midlife women, but it can be dangerous for their heart health.
New research funded by the National Institutes of Aging found that midlife women who experience short sleep had up to a 75% chance of developing heart disease in the future.
The findings, published in the scientific journal Circulation, were conducted from researchers who used data from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, an ongoing longitudinal study that examines the health of women ages 42 to 52 and premenopausal women. In this study, the sleep patterns of 3,320 women were analyzed repeatedly starting in 1994. Observed sleep issues included trouble falling asleep, waking up too early and waking up multiple times throughout the night.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 60 million women in the U.S. are currently living with some form of heart disease, which is the leading cause of death for women. Approximately 80% of women ages 40 to 60 have one or more risk factors for coronary heart disease, according to the National Institutes of Health. This type of heart disease occurs when narrowed arteries — usually from the buildup of plaque — prevent blood from getting to the heart.
Compared to other racial groups of women, heart disease is most prevalent in Black women, due to higher rates of obesity and diabetes in this community, which puts them at greater risk.
For the study, SWAN participants had their levels of blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure recorded along with their smoking status. Women were also placed in four groups based on how severe and frequent their insomnia occurred, from low to persistently high.
Researchers discovered that persistent symptoms of insomnia, along with short duration of sleep, were associated with a higher risk of developing heart disease later in life. Twenty-three percent of participants in the study had experienced persistent insomnia over midlife and were at an increased risk of developing heart disease later in life, while women who had persistent insomnia symptoms and short sleep duration had as much as a75% risk of experiencing heart disease events.
Aside from heart disease, research shows that women who get little sleep are at higher risk of experiencing anxiety, high blood pressure, diabetes and depression. SWAN’s findings highlight the importance of considering sleep patterns as it pertains to cardiovascular risk.
The bottom line: stay healthy, and make sure to get enough sleep — between 7 to 9 hours each night, experts suggest.
