People who have trouble sleeping may be more likely to have a stroke, heart attack or other cerebrovascular or cardiovascular diseases, according to a study published in the November 6, 2019, online issue of Neurology.

The study involved 487,200 people in China with an average age of 51. Participants had no history of stroke or heart disease at the beginning of the study. Participants were asked if they had any of three symptoms of insomnia at least three days per week: trouble falling asleep or staying asleep; waking up too early in the morning; or trouble staying focused during the day due to poor sleep. The people were then followed for an average of about 10 years. During that time, there were 130,032 cases of stroke, heart attack and other similar diseases.

• People who had all three symptoms of insomnia were 18 percent more likely to develop these diseasesthan people who did not have any symptoms.
• People who had trouble falling asleep or staying asleep were 9 percent more likelyto develop stroke or heart disease than people who did not have this trouble. Of the 55,127 people who had this symptom, 17,650, or 32 percent, had a stroke or heart disease, compared to 112,382, or 26 percent, of the 432,073 people who did not have this symptom of insomnia.
• People who woke up too early in the morningand could not get back to sleep were 7 percent more likely to develop these diseases than people who did not have that problem.
• People who reported that they had trouble staying focused during the day due to poor sleepwere 13 percent more likely to develop these diseases than people who did not have that symptom... (Excerpts from American Academy of Neurology, Nov. 6, 2019)

 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