A good night's sleep for healthy arteries

Sleep may help protect the arteries of the heart, show the preliminary data from a U.S. study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). According to the test observation, the coronary arteries were more calcified in people who slept little that those who received 7 or more hours of sleep per night. Calcification, or formation of arterial plaques, is associated with atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) which increases the risk of heart disease. The trial focused on 495 subjects that showed no arterial calcification in the beginning, according to results of a medical imaging by tomography. After a follow-up to five years, a new tomographic examination revealed that 12.3% of patients had calcifications in varying degrees. The incidence of arterial calcification was approximately 9.5% in subjects who slept less than 4 hours per night. In comparison, it was 4% in subjects who slept for 4 hours to 5 hours per night, about 2% when the sleep duration of 5 to 7 hours and almost non-existent among those who slept 8 hours or more. It is not known the mechanism by which sleep may protect against the formation of arterial plaques. Researchers believe it is possible that a good night's sleep can help reduce stress levels, which would be associated with calcifications. We have already noticed that the sleep tended to lower blood pressure, which could provide a respite to the arteries and reduce the inflammatory processes may lead to the formation of arterial plaque. Note that arterial calcifications are not, at present, regarded as a symptom of cardiovascular disorders. They are considered, at most, as a possible risk factor. The presence of initial calcification in the arteries does not mean that coronary artery disease. Further studies should be conducted to measure the precise effect of the number of hours of sleep on arterial calcifications and cardiovascular diseases.