VIDEO: Study identifies link between sleep duration, inflammation, cardiovascular risk

Researchers identified significant U-shaped associations between sleep duration and cardiovascular mortality, 10-year atherosclerotic CVD risk and C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation.

The results indicate an interplay between sleep duration, inflammation and cardiovascular risk, according to Shivaraj Nagalli, MD, FACP, a board-certified internal medicine physician at Shelby Baptist Medical Center in Alabaster, Alabama, and colleagues.

Nagalli and colleagues conducted the study using data from 17,635 U.S. adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Over a median follow-up period of 7.5 years, the researchers identified 350 cardiovascular deaths, yielding an incident rate of 2.7 per 1,000 person-years.

The incident rate of cardiovascular mortality was higher among participants who reported a sleep duration of less than 6 hours or more than 7 hours, and lowest among those who reported a sleep duration between 6 and 7 hours.

“Similar U-shaped observations were found between sleep durations and inflammation,” Nagalli told Healio. “The same U-shaped observation was found between the sleep duration and 10-year atherosclerotic CVD risk. This was the first study where we found associations between sleep, inflammation and cardiovascular mortality.”

In this video, Nagalli further discusses his study and the take-home message for primary care physicians.

Reference:

Gupta K, et al. Am J Prev Cardiol. 2021;doi:10.1016/j.ajpc.2021.100246.