Poor sleep in women linked to raised risk of heart disease

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Smelling your romantic partner’s T-shirt improves sleep efficiency Results revealed that women who had higher PQSI scores meaning the poorer quality of sleep also had a higher weight of foot taken and higher sugar content of food and a lower intake of healthy unsaturated fats. This meant that poor sleep was associated with more inferior quality of food intake and thus could be associated with poorer health. Women who took longer to fall asleep – more than 60 minutes of sleep latency also took in more food by weight and energy content. They took lesser amounts of healthy whole grains when compared to women who took less than 15 minutes to fall asleep. Women who scored severe in insomnia ratings also ate more weight of food that was rich in energy and ate fewer amounts of unsaturated fats. Aggarwal said, "Our interpretation is that women with poor-quality sleep could be overeating during subsequent meals and making more unhealthy food choices." Faris Zuraikat, a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and lead author of the study, added, "Poor sleep quality may lead to excessive food and calorie intake by stimulating hunger signals or suppressing signals of fullness. Fullness is largely affected by the weight or volume of food consumed, and it could be that women with insomnia consume a greater amount of food in an effort to feel full. However, it's also possible that poor diet has a negative impact on women's sleep quality." Zuraikat explained, "Eating more could also cause gastrointestinal discomfort, for instance, making it harder to fall asleep or remain asleep." Aggarwal also said, "Given that poor diet and overeating may lead to obesity--a well-established risk factor for heart disease--future studies should test whether therapies that improve sleep quality can promote cardiometabolic health in women." The authors of the study wrote in conclusion, "Poor sleep quality was associated with greater food intake and lower‐quality diet, which can increase cardiovascular disease risk." They wrote that the clinical implications of these findings were that there should be "strategies to enhance sleep quality into behavioral interventions," in order to improve the efforts to improve the cardiovascular health among women. The study was supported in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Journal reference: Measures of Poor Sleep Quality Are Associated With Higher Energy Intake and Poor Diet Quality in a Diverse Sample of Women From the Go Red for Women Strategically Focused Research Network Faris M. Zuraikat PhD , Nour Makarem PhD , Ming Liao MS , Marie‐Pierre St‐Onge PhD, FAHA , and Brooke Aggarwal EdD, MS, FAHA, https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.119.014587