Significant link found between frequent nightmares, CVD

U.S. veterans who had at least two nightmares a week were more likely to report having one of several cardiovascular conditions, data show.

The findings were initially published in Sleep, the journal of the Sleep Research Society, and then presented at the society’s annual meeting, which was held virtually.

“Relationships between PTSD, sleep and CVD have been established, but mechanisms for how PTSD and trauma associated sleep disturbance might increase CVD are not well understood,” Christi Ulmer, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, told Healio Primary Care.

She reviewed health records of 3,876 veterans, nearly three-quarters of whom had served one or two tours of duty since Sept. 11, 2001. The participants’ mean age was 38 years; 78% were men, 48% were white and 48% were Black.

“Since the prevalence of traumatic stress is higher in this population relative to civilian populations, and because the registry employed for our analyses allows assessment of nightmares and self-reported CVD, this was an ideal data set to examine these associations,” Ulmer said.

She said one-third of the veterans had frequent — two or three nightmares — weekly. After adjusting for age, sex and race, the researchers found that frequent nightmares were associated with self-reported heart problems (P = .006), high BP (P < .0001) and heart attacks (P = .007). These associations remained significant after PTSD was added to the model, according to Ulmer.

“It's important to note that nightmares are not unique to those who have experienced a traumatic event,” Ulmer said.

She added that ascertaining a patient’s trauma history may affect the applicability of the findings across all populations, since “military and veteran populations experience primarily combat-related and military sexual trauma, whereas civilians are more likely to experience noncombat traumas.”

Ulmer encouraged future research on the association between clinician-diagnosed CVD and nightmares.