31 Mar Insomnia Linked to Increased Risk of Stroke and Heart Attack

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Qiao He
Master’s degree student
China Medical University
Shenyang, China

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Sleep is an important factor for biological recovery functions, but in modern society, more and more people have complained having sleep problems like insomnia, one of the main sleep disorders. It is reported that approximately one-third of the German general population has been suffering from insomnia symptoms. In decades, many researchers have found associations between insomnia and bad health outcomes. Insomnia seems to be a big health issue. However, the results from previous studies regarding the association of insomnia and cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events were inconsistent. Therefore, we conducted this study.

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?

Response: We found that people who reported having insomnia symptoms of difficulty initiating sleep (DIS), difficulty maintaining sleep (DMS) or non-restorative sleep (NRS) had 27%, 11%, and 18% higher risk of cardio-cerebral vascular events,respective.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: Sleep disorders are common in modern society. Doctors and general population should pay attention to the sleep health and take it in consideration for the risk assessment. Health education is needed to get individuals to be aware of insomnia symptoms.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: In previous cohort studies, there were few information about the treatment of insomnia during the observation period such as sleeping pills or continuous positive airway pressure which may have impact on the results. I suggest that future follow-up research on this topic may focus on the treatment of insomnia during the observation period. And the definition and measure scale of insomnia symptoms need more uniform and accurate.

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Citation:

He Q, et al. The association between insomnia symptoms and risk of cardio-cerebral vascular events: A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.
European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. 2017. DOI: 10.1177/2047487317702043

Link to full paper: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2047487317702043

Note: Content is Not intended as medical advice. Please consult your health care provider regarding your specific medical condition and questions.

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Last Updated on March 31, 2017 by Marie Benz MD FAAD