Sleep is very important for us and you know it. If you don’t get a good night’s sleep, you definitely feel it. Duration of sleep is important, but other factors play a huge role as well. For example, interruptions. A new study from the University of Adelaide has revealed that there is a link between sleep disruptions and the risk of death.
Unconscious wakefulness is really unhealthy to you, especially your cardiovascular system. Image credit: Andr.V.S. via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
You may think that you’ve slept well through the night, but it is actually very likely that you’ve experienced some periods of wakefulness during the night. Those periods are usually unconscious, which is why you don’t remember them. But even these little pauses in sleep may have huge negative effects on one’s health. Scientists involved 8001 men and women in a new study, which revealed that sleep disruptions can be linked with an increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. This effect was particularly visible in women – those who experienced more frequent and longer periods of unconscious wakefulness faced nearly double the risk of death.
Unconscious wakefulness is actually a normal part of sleep. It is your body’s response to various signals, which can show a potentially dangerous situation. Unconscious wakefulness usually occurs because of obstructive sleep apnoea (obstructed breathing) or noise pollution. For example, crying babies or low-flying aircraft are usually blamed for nocturnal arousals.
This study consolidated data from several researches where participants were followed up for 6-11 years. Women who experienced significant periods of unconscious wakefulness were nearly twice as likely to die within that follow up period than women from the general population. These are shocking results, showing again how important sleep is to our health. This effect was visible in men as well, but their risk of death was only increased 1.3 times when they experienced those frequent nocturnal arousals.
Scientists are not entirely sure why unconscious wakefulness affects men and women differently. Dominik Linz, one of the authors of the study, said: “The triggers causing an arousal or the body’s response to arousal may differ in women compared to men. This may explain the relatively higher risk of cardiovascular death in women. Women and men may have different compensatory mechanisms for coping with the detrimental effects of arousal. Women may have a higher arousal threshold and so this may result in a higher trigger burden in women compared to men.”
Scientists also noticed that unconscious wakefulness affects older and more obese people more. You should really take care of your sleep. Do your best to limit the noisiness of the environment. Also, use good curtains to block the lights. If you have sleep apnoea, get it treated.
Source: University of Adelaide