Sleep disturbances linked to elevated risk for MI, stroke in men

Men with sleeping disorders were more likely to develop MI or stroke compared with those without disrupted sleep patterns, according to study results.

Researchers examined the relationship between sleep disturbances and risk for MI and stroke in 657 men aged 25 to 64 years in the psychosocial substudy of the WHO’s multinational monitoring of trends and disturbances in CVD program, known as MONICA.

Sleep disturbances were measured at baseline by the MONICA – psychosocial interview sleep disturbances scale. The primary outcomes were MI and stroke. Follow-up was 14 years.

Valery V. Gafarov, MD, PhD, professor of cardiology at the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia, reported MI results and stroke results in two presentations at EuroHeartCare 2015, the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology’s Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions.

At baseline, 36.9% of participants reported “good” sleep vs. 63.1% who were determined to have sleep disturbances.

Compared with no sleep disturbance, men with sleep disturbances had an elevated risk for MI at 5 years (HR = 2.43; 95% CI, 1.27-8.59), 10 years (HR = 2.6; 95% CI, 1.35-9.41) and 14 years (HR = 2.3; 95% CI, 1.1-4.6), Gafarov and colleagues found.

MI was most likely to occur in men who had sleep disturbances and higher negative psychosocial factors, such as being a widower, being divorced, not completing secondary school education, and engaging in hard and moderate manual labor, according to the researchers.

Compared with no sleep disturbances, sleep disturbances raised the risk for stroke at 5 years (HR = 3.9; 95% CI, 1.177-11.018) and 10 years (HR = 2.72; 95% CI, 1.046-9.582). At 14 years, the trend remained but was no longer significant (HR = 1.5; 95% CI, 0.046-5.17), Gafarov and colleagues found.

The highest rates of stroke was observed in men who had sleep disorders and higher negative psychosocial factors, including being a widower, being divorced, having incomplete secondary education, working heavy or moderate manual labor and being retired.

“Sleep disorders are very closely related to the prevalence of [CVD],” Gafarov said in a press release. “However, until now, there has not been a population-based cohort study examining the impact of sleep disorders on the development of [MI] or stroke. Poor sleep should be considered a modifiable risk factor for [CVD] along with smoking, lack of exercise and poor diet. Guidelines should add sleep as a risk factor to recommendations for preventing [CVD].”

He added that “people who are not sleeping well should speak to their doctor. Our previous research showed that sleeping disorders are very closely connected with depression, anxiety and hostility, so speaking with a psychologist may help.” – by Erik Swain

Reference:

Gafarov VV, et al. Abstracts 90033 and 90034. Presented at: EuroHeartCare; June 14-15, 2015; Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Disclosure: Cardiology Today could not obtain relevant financial disclosures.