Sleeping less than five hours a night increases the risk of suffering from obliterating arteriopathy of the lower limbs, a pathology which corresponds to an occlusion or a narrowing of the diameter of the arteries of the legs.
- According to a new study, sleeping less than 5 hours per night increases the risk of suffering from arteritis of the legs.
- Having this pathology also promotes poor sleep.
- Studies also seem to indicate that taking a nap or sleeping more than 8 hours could increase the risk of arteritis of the legs. However, researchers need to do further testing to confirm this.
Sleep is one of the keys to maintaining good health. A recent study by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm (Sweden) provides further proof of this. The work, published in the journal European Heart Journal-Openshow that people who sleep less than 5 hours per night have a 74% increased likelihood of developing obliterating arteriopathy of the lower limbs (PAD).
This pathology, also called arteritis of the legs, is characterized by partial or total obstruction of the arteries of the legs, most often caused by cholesterol. This leads to a decrease in blood and oxygen supply to the lower limbs. The most severe cases can lead to amputation.
Short nights are not good for leg health
To determine if there was a link between lack of sleep and obliterating arteriopathy of the lower limbs, the researchers first analyzed the files of more than 650,000 volunteers. They noted the quality of sleep of the participants as well as their health concerns. The scientists then took the genetic data to perform Mendelian randomization. This statistical method is based on the variation of genes to assess the causal effect between two points studied.
According to the analyzes carried out, sleeping less than five hours per night was associated with an almost double risk of suffering from arteritis of the legs compared to a night of seven to eight hours.
“The results indicate that brief nocturnal sleep may increase the risk of developing PAD, and that the disease increases the risk of having insufficient sleep”explains Dr. Shuai Yuan of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, author of the article.
Arteritis of the legs: too much sleep could also be problematic
If spending little time in Morpheus’ arms has a detrimental impact on the vascular health of the legs, being a heavy sleeper could also be problematic. People who sleep more than 8 hours per night have a 24% higher risk of PAD compared to those who sleep the recommended seven to eight hours.
“However, no causal relationship was found between long sleep and PAD”says the study.
Similar results have been reported for the nap. Its followers had a 32% higher risk of arteritis in the legs compared to those who do not sleep during the day.
“More studies are needed on the relationships between prolonged nocturnal sleep, daytime naps and PAD”believes Dr. Yuan. “Although we found associations in observational studies, we could not confirm causation”he concludes.
