Lifestyle

Health risks associated with irregular sleep

Health risks associated with irregular sleep
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If you are interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, you may already be following a balanced diet, having regular physical activity and being mindful of managing your stress levels. But a 2019 American study suggests there’s another lifestyle factor we need to bring into the mix: our sleep.

Irregular sleeping patterns

Of course, the link between sleep and overall health has long been established. But while other previous research had focused on either the quality or quantity of sleep, this particular study, led by Boston-based Tianyi Huang - a researcher specialised in the epidemiology of sleep and sleep disorders – looks instead at sleep irregularities and their effect on our bodies.

The study, conducted among 45- to 84-year-old men and women, found that a regular sleeping pattern – that is, sticking to a consistent bedtime and wake-up schedule and getting the same amount of sleep each night – could reduce your likelihood of developing “metabolic abnormalities” such as obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood sugar.

Associated health risks

Specifically, increasing sleep duration or bedtime variability was strongly linked to lower HDL cholesterol, higher BMI, waist circumference, triglycerides and fasting glucose. In their turn, these issues are associated to further health risks.

• HDL helps carry cholesterol away from arteries; insufficient HDL can raise the risk of heart disease.

• Consistent high blood pressure can cause plaque to build up in arteries, which in turn leads to heart damage.

• More than an aesthetic measure, waist circumference can also be a warning sign for potential heart disease risks.

• And high levels of fasting blood glucose can be an early sign of diabetes, which in turn dramatically increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Every hour matters

While the majority of people do not regularly experience extreme circumstances such as alternating night shifts at work or frequent jet lag, Tianyi Huang concludes that “irregular sleep is a highly prevalent form of chronic circadian disruption in today’s society. In our sample of older individuals, more than half showed average night-to-night variability in sleep duration of over 60 minutes.” This variability can be even higher among younger individuals due to their work and study.

With that in mind, the research showed that a single hour night-to-night difference in sleep duration can lead to 27% greater chance of experiencing a metabolic syndrome.

This insight is hugely important as it provides us with a great new opportunity in our attempt to fight against obesity and prevent its unwanted health complications. Getting enough sleep every night remains essential, but forming a discipline for correct, regular sleep patterns will have a significant positive impact on the quality of your every-day life.