A long-term study by doctors at Tri-Service General Hospital in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) has linked chronic insomnia to higher risk of heart failure, Wang Yi-to (王一多), a doctor of thoracic medicine, said on Friday.
Although previous research suggests that sleep apnea is highly correlated to heart failure, the hospital’s research team is interested in a possible correlation between heart failure and sleep disorders other than sleep apnea, such as sleepwalking and insomnia, Wang said.
The researchers used National Health Insurance data to track the health of 20,985 people who experience insomnia over 13 years, he said.
Only those with no history of heart failure or sleep apnea were tracked, he said.
The researchers found that heart failure was reported in 3,498 people, or about 17 percent, he said.
About 40 percent of those in the study who had heart failure were under 50, while more women were affected than men, he said.
People with seven years of medically diagnosed insomnia were 20 percent more likely to experience heart failure than the average person, while people with simple insomnia were 36 percent more likely to experience heart failure than those with other sleep disorders, Wang said.
Sleep disorders could have an adverse effect on the hypothalamus — the region of the brain that regulates heart rate and cardiovascular activity — which causes cardiovascular distress, he said.
The research is corroborated, as medical literature does suggest a link between sleep disorders, heightened blood pressure and diabetes, but a precise mechanism linking sleep disorders to heart failure remains unexplained, he said.
An estimated 25 percent of Taiwanese has a sleep disorder, with about 20 percent of men and 30 percent of women affected, he said.
Insomnia is defined by the Taiwan Society of Sleep Medicine as having difficulty falling to sleep after being in bed for more than 30 minutes, or waking before full rest three times or more per week in three consecutive months.
People with those symptoms should seek medical assistance, the society said.
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