Women, sleep, and disease

A new research study has shown some interesting connections between sleep problems, psychologic stress, and risk factors in the blood for certain diseases. The researchers at Duke University studied over 200 normal people.

The subjects kept track of various aspects of their sleep for about one month. They also filled out various questionnaires about their psychologic state and stress levels. Blood samples were taken and tested for a number of markers of inflammation and heart disease. All of the subjects were non-smokers and the women were not on hormones of any type.

Previous studies have demonstrated connections between various measures of poor sleep and increased risk of coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. This study tried to assess the reason for this and also to understand the difference between men and women.

The results indicated that less more frequent sleep problems, less nightly total sleep time, and difficulty falling asleep were connected with increased psychologic distress and with increased blood markers including higher fasting insulin, fibrinogen and certain inflammatory biomarkers. It is likely that these markers in the blood are examples of HOW poor sleep seems to be linked with heart disease. It is not proven the extent to which these changes are due to the sleep problems itself or to the stress.

But the connection only occurred in WOMEN, not in men. That is, men who had similar sleep complaints did not exhibit the blood changes or the psychologic distress as much as the women did. The reason for this is not clear, but it confirms that physical responses to sleep problems can differ between the genders and have implications for who is likely to get sick from sleep problems. We also know that insomnia is much more common in women than in men.

So is possible that this sleep-health connection will be particularly important for women as more research is done. The study is also reviewed here.J. Steven Poceta MD is a licensed practitioner of neurology and sleep disorders who has been engaged by Revolution Health. No information in this blog is intended to diagnose or treat any condition. The opinions expressed here are Dr. Poceta's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Revolution Health.