Chronic insomnia may shorten your life: study
CTV News
Tuesday June 8, 2010
People who suffer from chronic insomnia appear to die prematurely, regardless of any other chronic conditions they have, such as heart disease or diabetes, a new study has found.
The research was presented at SLEEP 2010, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, by Laurel Finn, a biostatistician at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Her team analyzed data on people enrolled in the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study who completed two to three mailed questionnaires in 1989, 1994, and 2000. Anyone who reported insomnia symptoms in at least two of the questionnaires was considered to have had insomnia.
The researchers looked at four types of insomnia:
Even after making those adjustments, they found that overall, the risk of dying was about three times higher among people with chronic insomnia than among people who did not have insomnia. The risks were slightly higher among those who chronically woke too early, and among those who had trouble getting back to sleep, but overall the risk of early death was elevated regardless of the type of insomnia.
"The most surprising result was the increased high risk for mortality among individuals with chronic insomnia versus those without insomnia, even after adjustment for all of the potential confounding variables" said lead author Finn. "The other important finding was the non-differentiation between subtypes of insomnia with respect to mortality risk."
Finn added that the results emphasize the need for physicians to provide effective treatments for insomnia even if patients don't have other health problems that put them at risk of a premature death. "Insomnia is a burdensome symptom and has a negative impact on sleep quality that may lead people to seek treatment," said Finn. "The identification of insomnia as a mortality risk factor may have clinical implications and raise the priority level for insomnia treatment."
The study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the National Institute on Aging; and the National Center for Research Resources.
According to Statistics Canada, an estimated 3.3 million Canadians aged 15 or older, or about one in every seven, have chronic problems going to sleep or staying asleep. The study found that about one in five of these people average less than five hours of sleep a night. The StatsCan study found that middle-aged people (ages 45 to 64) had high odds of suffering from insomnia, as did people who were widowed, and those with low education.
Weight was also a factor. High proportions of people who were obese suffered from insomnia. And the heavier they were, the more likely they were to have trouble sleeping. The study also found that heavy weekly drinking was linked to insomnia, as was frequent use of cannabis.
CTV News
Tuesday June 8, 2010
People who suffer from chronic insomnia appear to die prematurely, regardless of any other chronic conditions they have, such as heart disease or diabetes, a new study has found.
The research was presented at SLEEP 2010, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, by Laurel Finn, a biostatistician at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Her team analyzed data on people enrolled in the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study who completed two to three mailed questionnaires in 1989, 1994, and 2000. Anyone who reported insomnia symptoms in at least two of the questionnaires was considered to have had insomnia.
The researchers looked at four types of insomnia:
- difficulty falling asleep
- difficulty getting back to sleep
- waking repeatedly
- waking too early
Even after making those adjustments, they found that overall, the risk of dying was about three times higher among people with chronic insomnia than among people who did not have insomnia. The risks were slightly higher among those who chronically woke too early, and among those who had trouble getting back to sleep, but overall the risk of early death was elevated regardless of the type of insomnia.
"The most surprising result was the increased high risk for mortality among individuals with chronic insomnia versus those without insomnia, even after adjustment for all of the potential confounding variables" said lead author Finn. "The other important finding was the non-differentiation between subtypes of insomnia with respect to mortality risk."
Finn added that the results emphasize the need for physicians to provide effective treatments for insomnia even if patients don't have other health problems that put them at risk of a premature death. "Insomnia is a burdensome symptom and has a negative impact on sleep quality that may lead people to seek treatment," said Finn. "The identification of insomnia as a mortality risk factor may have clinical implications and raise the priority level for insomnia treatment."
The study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the National Institute on Aging; and the National Center for Research Resources.
According to Statistics Canada, an estimated 3.3 million Canadians aged 15 or older, or about one in every seven, have chronic problems going to sleep or staying asleep. The study found that about one in five of these people average less than five hours of sleep a night. The StatsCan study found that middle-aged people (ages 45 to 64) had high odds of suffering from insomnia, as did people who were widowed, and those with low education.
Weight was also a factor. High proportions of people who were obese suffered from insomnia. And the heavier they were, the more likely they were to have trouble sleeping. The study also found that heavy weekly drinking was linked to insomnia, as was frequent use of cannabis.
