Lack of sleep can lead to heart attack, shows survey

Emphasising on the importance of adequate and quality sleep to minimise the risk of a heart attack, a survey conducted at Zydus Hospital in Ahmedabad on 243 heart patients and their attendants has found that nearly 37 per cent of them reported inadequate sleep.

Senior Consultant (Interventional Cardiologist) Dr Abhisheka Tripathi of Zydus Hospital said that along with diabetes, hypertension and smoking, lack of sleep, too, can be a significant risk factor behind heart attacks.

“Even if there is no diabetes or hypertension, inadequate sleep, which is sleep less than 6 to 8 hours, is a risk factor,” Dr Tripathi told mediapersons on Thursday.

Of the 243 patients surveyed, who visited the hospital recently and were served with an observational questionnaire, 57 per cent were men and the rest women. Dr Tripathi said that 12 per cent of them showed all three risk factors for heart disease – inadequate sleep, diabetes and hypertension.