More Sleep Equals Lowered Risk of Heart Attack

In a recent study conducted by Dr. Imre Jansky of the Karolinska Institute, and other Swedish researchers, it was found that more sleep may lower the risk of a heart attack. The researchers analyzed heart attack records from the past two decades (1987 - 2006) and found that on the day after clocks are set back one hour in the fall, heart attack rates dropped. What’s more, in the few days following the clocks going forward an hour in the spring, heart attack rates increased. To make the comparison, researchers looked at heart attack rates for the few days following the changing of the clocks (either forward or back), and then at the rates on the same days of the week two weeks before and two weeks after the change. They found that when clocks are set forward, heart attack rates increase by 6% on the following Monday, 10% on Tuesday and 6% on Wednesday, with a 5% increase over the entire week. However, when clocks are set back, heart attack rates fell by 5% on the following Monday, although they remained the same through the rest of the week. The increased risk of a heart attack on a Monday was normally blamed on the resumed activity and stress that comes with the start of a new week. However, this study may hint that the real cause is the loss of sleep people get on Sunday nights as a result of getting to bed later and waking up earlier on Monday for work.

This study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, reveals that losing or gaining sleep can increase or decrease the risk of a heart attack, which supports the fact that sleep affects our cardiovascular health. The amount of sleep a person gets each night can cause changes in blood pressure, blood clotting, blood sugar, inflammation, cholesterol, and blood vessels. Doctors suggest that people gradually adjust to the time change in the spring by going to bed earlier and waking up earlier, which will make it easier to deal with the hour loss.

In a separate study conducted by American researchers, it was found that the time change in the fall was to blame for an increase in pedestrian deaths during evening rush hour because drivers have trouble adjusting to earlier darkness. In the spring when daylight is extended with the change of the clocks, there was a lowered risk for pedestrian deaths.

Heart attacks require the immediate care of a doctor or hospital. If you or a loved one has questions about the quality of the medical care you received please call Silberstein, Awad & Miklos' medical malpractice attorneys for answers. Together we will continue our fight against FRIVOLOUS DEFENSES and DECEPTIVE DEFENSES.
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