Getting enough sleep on a regular basis is one imp ortant way to protect the health of your heart. Poor sleep is associated with a range of cardiovascular(心血管的) problems, including high blood pressure, heart attack, an d heart failure. Both men and women are at increased risk for these conditions. But we continue to learn that when it comes to health problems associated with sleep, the particular risks to men and women are not always the same. A new study suggests that for women who already have heart disease, poor sleep may be particularly dangerous to their heart health.
Research indicates that poor-quality sleep—and waking too early in particular—is associated with increased inflammation(炎症) among women with heart disease. There was no similar association found for men, suggesting that women with heart disease and sleep problems may be at particular risk for inflammation that can be damaging to the heart.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco investigated the relationship between sleep quality and inflammation linked to coronary(冠状的) heart disease. They also sought information about how an association between sleep and inflammation might differ between men and women. Their investigation included 980 men and women at first, and 626 completed the 5-year study. All of those included were suffering for coronary heart disease. The average age of men in the study was 66. Women were slightly younger, with an average age of 64. Researchers measured sleep quality by asking participants to rate their sleep over the previous mon th. They also asked for reports of some of the most common sleep problems, including difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, waking frequently throughout the night, and waking too early in the morning.
After 5 years, researchers repeated tests for inflammation and once again sought reports on sleep quality and sleep problems. When they analyzed data for both men and women together, researchers found no links between inflammations and sleep quality. However, when they analyzed data taking gender(性别) into account, researchers found a relationship between inflammation and sleep existed for women, but not for men.