Heart Attack, Stroke Risk: Insomnia Is 27% More Likely To Cause Deadly Heart Problems; Scientists Warn

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Insomnia increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes; scientists warn. A new research suggested that people who have a sleep problem at night have even 27 percent higher chance of a fatal incident.

According to Mail Online, past studies presented an association between insomnia and poor health condition. However, its link to a heart disease was inconsistent.

It is believed worldwide that insomnia alters functions of the body affecting an estimated one in three adults. Moreover, experts found that women are more prone to this sleep problem condition due to their hormones making them most at risk of heart disease.

Sleep is an essential need of the body; it's a revitalizing time, causing an energized and refreshed feeling, experts said. It also makes the immune system and the cardiovascular system rest and enables other organs to be renewed.

Insomnia is deemed to elevate blood pressure and changes the body's metabolism. These are both known risk factors for cardiovascular disease, Chinese researchers believed.

The researchers at the China Medical University, Shenyang conducted a new research. They aim to find evidence of an association between insomnia symptoms and deaths due to heart disease, which is the topmost killer worldwide. They reviewed data from 15 previous studies that involved 160,867 participants, Science Daily reported.

The symptoms of insomnia include difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, and non-restorative sleep. There are 27 percent, 11 percent, and 18 percent more chances of heart attack and stroke events, respectively, Qiao He, author of the study said. She is also a Master's degree student at China Medical University, Shenyang, China. The result details were published in European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Sleep disorders are experienced usually in the general population and sleep health should be added in a clinical risk assessment. Sleep is significant for biological restoration that snatches almost a third of people's lifetime, Qiao He explained.

However, there’s an increasing, insomnia cases in the modern society thus education is required to raise public awareness of its symptoms and possible risks. In this way, people with sleep disorders are encouraged to seek help, she added.