Lack of Sleep Can Heighten Heart Attack Risk in Women: Study Reveals

A recent study has suggested that insomnia or receiving five hours or less of sleep per night can significantly increase the risk of a heart attack. The report highlights the importance of prioritizing sleep. Women, who have a 40% higher lifetime risk of sleeplessness than men, are more prone to a heart attack than their male counterparts, according to data presented in the journal Clinical Cardiology. The research included over 1.2 million participants from the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, Taiwan, and China, of which over 50% were women.

Chronic insomnia, the most common sleep condition in the US, affects between 10% and 30% of the population. 13% of participants reported having insomnia, with 2,406 of them having a heart attack compared to 12,398 of those who didn’t have insomnia over an average nine-year follow-up period. The study also examined the potential link between sleep length and heart health. The results showed that receiving five hours or less of sleep per night increased the risk of a heart attack by 1.38 and 1.56 times compared to those who received six to eight hours.

Yomna E. Dean, a medical student at Alexandria University in Alexandria, Egypt and the study’s author, stated that “insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, but in many ways, it’s no longer just an illness, it’s more of a life choice. We just don’t prioritize sleep as much as we should.” The research provides further proof that excessive sleep may also be harmful. Individuals who reported sleeping five hours or less per night were at no discernible risk of a heart attack compared to those who received nine or more hours of sleep.

Heart attacks occur every 40 seconds in the United States, making it the primary cause of mortality for most racial and ethnic.