Six hours is approved as the average amount of sleep a healthy adult should get every day. Getting less than six hours of sleep a day has been linked to several issues, most of them being practical issues. A new research study, however, has proven that getting less than six hours of sleep every day can increase the chance of a number of cardiovascular diseases.
The research was based on the data collected from 4,000 adults who have an average age of 46. Two-third of the population were men and none of them had previously known history of heart diseases. These people were supposed to use an equipment that would track their sleeping activity for a week and then supposed to go through CT Scan, which would diagnose the case of cardiovascular diseases, or early symptoms of the same.
After analyzing the results, it was found that people who slept for less than six hours had 27% more chance when it came to getting cardiovascular diseases. As expected, the chances were low among people who did get around 7 to 8 hours of sleep every day. Atherosclerosis was one of the common cardiovascular disease that was found among the people who slept for less.
The authors of the study have also pointed out the importance of sleep quality. The chances of getting these diseases were higher among people who had less sleep quality when compared to those who had a good quality of sleep. Several studies in the past have also pointed out that the time people choose to start their sleep also plays a role in the overall health.
“This study emphasizes we have to include sleep as one of the weapons we use to fight heart disease – a factor we are compromising every day,” said one of the senior authors of the study.
