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 Posted By:   Healthprior21

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Women who sleep less than six hours a day may be at a higher risk of heart disease, according to a new study.Women with coronary heart disease who sleep badly, and in particular those who wake up too early in the morning, have more than twice as much inflammation in their bodies, researchers found.

The findings suggest that poor sleep could play a greater role in raising unhealthy inflammation levels and worsening chronic conditions such as heart disease than previously thought, they said.

The study, by scientists from the University of California, San Francisco, examined the link between sleep and changes in inflammation levels in 700 older people with heart disease.

Poor sleep – usually defined as less than six hours per night – was linked to increases in inflammation in female patients during the five-year study, but not male patients.

Women who reported sleeping "poorly" or "very poorly" had 2.5 times as much inflammation as men, researchers found.

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They suggested that lower levels of oestrogen following the menopause could explain the link between a lack of sleep and inflammation, they said, while men could enjoy continued protection from their higher levels of testosterone.

Dr Aric Prather, who led the study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, said: "Inflammation is a well-known predictor of cardiovascular health.

"Now we have evidence that poor sleep appears to play a bigger role than we had previously thought in driving long-term increases in inflammation levels and may contribute to the negative consequences often associated with poor sleep.

 

 

Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10102006/Poor-sleep-linked-to-worsening-of-heart-disease-in-women.html