Sleeping For Less Than Five Hours Heightens Risk of Peripheral Artery Disease, Study Says

Based on a recent study, sleeping for less than five hours every night increases the risk of developing the peripheral arterial disease (PAD) by 74%.

Less Than Five Hours of Sleep Heightens Risk of Peripheral Artery Disease

According to the Sun, the study examined the disease rates among 650,000 adults. They then compared the condition with sleeping duration. The study was included in the European Heart Journal Open.

Findings revealed that being unable to fulfill the suggested seven to nine hours of sleep heightened the risk of developing the condition. Dr. Shuai Yuan, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, mentions that having seven to eight hours of sleep is a good practice for reducing the risk of developing PAD.

As per PTC news, the lack of daytime naps and nighttime sleep has been previously linked with elevated risks of developing coronary artery disease. Similar to PAD, coronary artery disease results from the clogging of arteries. Aside from this, sleeping issues are among the top complaints that PAD patients report.

There is a narrow understanding regarding how sleep habits affect PAD and vice versa. Hence, the study aimed to bridge and fill this gap.

Correlation or Causation

In the study's second part, the researchers used genetic data to conduct randomized controlled trials, dubbed "Mendelian randomization," to look into the causality of these links.

Science Daily reports that observational analyses are narrowed by reverse causality. This means that while the association is established, researchers are unsure whether PAD causes sleep habits or vice versa. Mendelian randomization enables them to examine the basis and offer greater certainty regarding the results.

The stronger proof was that the link with PAD covered both ways for a short sleep. Based on an observational analysis covering 53,416 adults, the researchers discovered that less than five hours of sleep was linked with a close-to-double risk of developing PAD compared to adults with seven to eight hours of sleep. Additionally, PAD was also linked to a higher likelihood of short sleep.

Dr. Yuan states that these findings show that short sleep duration heightens one's risk of developing PAD and that dealing with PAD heightens the risk of getting insufficient sleep.

They also discovered that sleeping eight or more hours each night resulted in a 24% heightened risk of developing PAD. This is compared to those who sleep seven to eight hours each night. However, no causal links were found between PAD and long sleep.

Similar findings were observed for daytime napping, wherein those who napped had a 32% heightened risk of developing PAD compared to those who did not nap. However, no causal associations were found.

Peripheral Artery Disease

According to the CDC, PAD in the lower extremities or legs narrows or blocks the vessels that deliver blood from the heart all the way to the legs. It usually results from fatty plaques that build up in the arteries, known as atherosclerosis. While PAD may occur across any blood vessel, the condition most commonly affects the legs more than the arms.

Science Daily notes that over 200 million individuals worldwide are dealing with PAD. The CDC also states that PAD affects both women and men.

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