In a 20-year study of 1,654 adults ages 20 to 74 with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart disease or stroke, researchers assessed sleep duration’s effect on mortality risk. The study found that people who slept less than six hours a night and had high blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes were almost twice as likely to die from heart disease or stroke. The risk of dying from cancer was three times more likely for subjects who slept less than six hours and also had heart disease or a history of stroke.
“We’re not saying that short sleep was a cause of cancer,” Julio Fernandez-Mendoza, PhD, lead author and sleep psychologist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center, told CNN. “We know that people with heart disease are more likely to have immune problems and develop cancer. And we know that there is a tight link between sleep and the immune system — sleep-deprived people have higher levels of inflammation.”
Researchers recommend physicians recognize sleep duration as a potentially modifiable risk factor of mortality. Patients with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart disease or stroke who sleep less than six hours could improve their long-term prognosis benefit with treatments that lengthen sleep.
Risk of developing and dying from cancer, heart disease or stroke did not increase for subjects who did not have any cardiovascular disease risk factors and slept more than six hours.
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