EXPLORE!

Sleeping less than 6 hours may increase risk of cancer and even death

  1118 Views

Dr KK Aggarwal    04 October 2019

Not getting enough sleep may put some people at risk for much more than being drowsy the next day.

As per a new study reported online Oct 2, 2019 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, middle-aged people with high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke could be at increased risk for cancer and early death if they get less than 6 hours of sleep a night.

Specifically, those with high blood pressure or diabetes who slept less than 6 hours had twice the risk of dying from heart disease or stroke compared with people who slept 6 or more hours. Sleep-deprived people with a history of heart disease or stroke had three times the increased risk of dying from cancer during the study that spanned three decades.

The study looked at more than 1,600 adults who were categorized into two groups. One had stage 2 high BP or type 2 diabetes and the other had heart disease or stroke. Participants were studied in a sleep lab for one night between 1991 and 1998. Researchers then tracked their cause of death up to the end of 2016. In that period, 512 people died, one-third of them from heart disease or stroke and one-fourth from cancer.

The study identified short sleep duration as an effect modifier of mortality and cause of death in people with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, or stroke. Short sleep duration should be included as a useful risk factor to predict the long-term outcomes of people with these health conditions. It suggests that patients with HT, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, or stroke, who sleep objectively short, may benefit from targeted treatments to lengthen sleep and improve their longterm prognosis.

(Source: AHA News Release; J Am Heart Assoc. 2019 Oct 15;8(20):e013043)

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

President Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania (CMAAO)

Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Past National President IMA

To comment on this article,
create a free account.

Sign Up to instantly get access to 10000+ Articles & 1000+ Cases

Already registered?

Login Now

Most Popular Articles

News and Updates

eMediNexus provides latest updates on medical news, medical case studies from India. In-depth medical case studies and research designed for doctors and healthcare professionals.