Sleep Disturbance and Cardiovascular Risk

Sleep Disturbance and Cardiovascular Risk in Adolescents Compared to Article Summary: Poor Sleep and Sleep Habits in Adolescence May Raise Heath Risks

A 2012 research study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal by Indra Narang, Cedric Manlhiot, Jolie Davies-Shaw, Don Gibson, Nita Chahal, Karen Stearne, Amanda Fisher, Stafford Dobbin, and Brian McCrindle concludes poor sleep hygiene among adolescents appears to be associated with increased cardiovascular risk. This article was summarized by Georgiann Caruso, CNN medical producer.

The study and the summary both reported the data collected during the 2009/2010 school year found participants sleep on average 7.9 hours during the week and 9.4 hours on weekends and the average age of participants to be 14.6 years. The summary noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends adolescents get 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep a night. The summary reported more than 4,000 ninth-grade students were enlisted in the research while the study was more precise stating the number of participants was 4,104 and 51% were male. Additionally the study reported that 5.9% of the participants used sleep medications while the summary rounded the figure to 6%.

The summary reported common sleep disturbances reported by the adolescents as waking up during the night or early in the morning, not being able to fall asleep within a half-hour, feeling too hot or too cold, having to use the restroom, and bad dreams. The study included these disturbances plus legs twitch or jerked, had pain, coughed/snored loudly (self reported), snored loudly (reported by parents), could not breathe comfortably, restlessness while sleeping, disoriented or confused, disturbed sleep for other reasons, and long pause between breath.

The summary noted a clear association between sleep disturbance in adolescents and a greater likelihood of having high cholesterol, high blood pressure and being overweight or obese. The study reported an association between sleep disturbance and cardiovascular risk in adolescents, as determined by high cholesterol levels, increased body mass index (BMI) and hypertension. The study called these findings important, given that sleep disturbance is highly prevalent in adolescence and that cardiovascular disease risk factors track from childhood into adulthood. Furthermore, the study mentioned previous studies that found that short sleep duration in adolescence was a significant risk factor for high cholesterol in adulthood, and that short sleep duration increased the odds of pre-hypertension, metabolic dysfunction, and adiposity.