Lack of Sleep Puts You at Risk of Heart Disease and Low Performance

Lack of sleep not only affects workplace performance but will also place you at risk of stroke, congestive heart failure and heart attack. A recent sleep study showed that getting less than 6 hours of sleep can lead to other serious health complications as well, including diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

Researchers presented their findings at the yearly meeting of the American College of Cardiology. They had studied a group of 3,000 patients, all older than 45. The subjects were placed into different categories: those who slept less than 6 hours, those who had 6 hours of sleep and those who slept an average of more than 8 hours.

The sleep study concluded that those who slept less than 6 hours per night were possible heart attack victims and would be 1.6% more likely to have heart failure in the future. These figures were reported by Dr. Rohit Arora, who is Chairman of Cardiology and Professor of Medicine at the Chicago Medical School.  The sleep study also revealed that too much sleep, more than 8 hours per night, actually leads to higher risk of angina and coronary heart disease. The cause-effect relationship between too much sleep and health conditions is not yet clear, though experts said that even if sleep isn’t the direct cause of such health risks, there does seem to be a link there.

Research presented at the ACC conference did not, however, mention why less sleep is necessarily bad for the heart. Previous studies have revealed that the lack of sleep increases stress hormones and inflammatory markers. These changes can result in damage to the blood vessels providing oxygen to the brain and heart.

Apart from being associated with risk of serious health complications, those people who slept from 4 to 6 hours were found to have developed an inability to focus resulting in poor performance and productivity during the daytime. Scientists found that just two weeks of not sleeping well can effectively hinder psychomotor skills, or functionality between the brain and the muscles. Furthermore, the presented sleep study showed that those who slept less did not acknowledge that they were lagging in terms of work performance.  Dr. Arora recommended that in order to maximize effectiveness workers should have 6-8 hours of quality sleep every night.

People who have to stay awake at night for their jobs like policemen and some people in the medical field may not be able to get back on the right track, especially if their sleep patterns have shifted already. Shift-work sleep disorder is associated with other sleep conditions as well, like insomnia and sleep apnea.

To remedy the situation, order a sleep study, or polysomnography, with a local sleep doctor to find out why you or your family may not be able to achieve good quality sleep. Diagnosing any existent sleep disorder is the first step to getting better sleep and improving your quality of life. Appropriate therapies can be started after the sleep study is complete. If you find that lack of sleep is making you groggy, irritable or less alert during the day, then consult a sleep professional with experience helping people in your same situation. Our medical directory lists local sleep centers that offer overnight sleep study and other procedures to diagnose and treat sleep disorders. Getting help now can save you a lot of grief, time and money in the long run.