Sleeping less and poorly is a confirmation of most women who see how their partner goes to bed and sleeps like an angel as soon as we count little stars and hear snoring. We already knew that having sleep problems affects our health, however now scientists have discovered that women who sleep less and poorly have a higher risk of heart attack than men. We sleep later and die earlier. How awful!
Women have more sleep problems than men and this affects their health and quality of life. A study from Duke University has concluded that women take more than half an hour to fall asleep than men and this problem increases the risk of heart disease in women.- The study warns us that insufficient sleep is associated with greater psychological stress and higher levels of biomarkers in the blood that are associated with increased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
- “This is the first evidence to support what we have observed about gender roles and their effects on sleep and health,” says Suarez, who led the study.
- “The work suggests that poor sleep—measured as the total amount of sleep, the degree of wakefulness during the night, and, most importantly, how long it takes a person to fall asleep—may have more serious health consequences for women than for men.” adds.
- The researchers studied 210 apparently healthy, middle-aged men and women with no history of sleep problems. None smoked or took medication on a daily basis and women taking any hormone therapy were excluded, as other studies have shown that they disturb sleep
- After applying a questionnaire, it was determined who had sleeping problems and then blood samples were taken. There they were measured for C-reactive protein, an inflammatory indicator that is associated with a greater risk of heart attack. While men with poor sleep do not present major changes in this parameter, “33% of women had levels above 3 mg/l, associated with a high risk of coronary heart disease,” Suarez explained to La Terceira.
Women who sleep little have more heart problems
- The most affected women were those who took more than half an hour to fall asleep. “This shortens the various periods of sleep, which further affects women’s health.” According to Dr. Andrea Contreras, a neurologist at Clinical Las Condos, the causes of women doubling men in sleep problems are that they are “under the influence of hormones both in childbearing age, in menopause and in postmenopausal. To this must be added the family and work stress that today affect working women”.
- At the level of consequences, “it is known that lack of sleep causes more inflammatory and emotional problems, irritability, depression and, therefore, more risk of accidents,” says Contreras.
