There is nothing worse than tossing and turning the night away with fitful sleep. Researchers at the University of Chicago recently reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that too little sleep can promote calcium build up in the heart arteries leading to plaques that can rupture and cause heart attacks and strokes.
How much arterial plaque accumulates? The Chicago team documented that one hour less each night can increase coronary calcium by 16%. Among the 495 participants ( men and women aged 35 to 47 ) 27% getting five hours or less showed plaque build up, 11% of those sleeping the recommended five to seven hours did, 6% of those sleeping more than seven hours showed plaque build up. The Chicago researchers stated “We were not expecting to find an association at all and certainly not one as strong “.
Why plaque accumulation occurs with sleep deprivation the researchers are not sure. One possible explanation is too little sleep may raise stress hormones, such as cortisol. In turn,increasing inflammation that can destabilize arterial plaque and cause a heart attack.
An easier explanation might be that sleep lowers blood pressure and with increased sleep deprivation blood pressure remains elevated increasing the possibility of a plaque rupture.
