Email a Friend
Print Article
Sleeplessness Worse for Women
All "men" are created equal. That turns out not to be the case when it comes to sleep.
Just this week a study came out of the U.K. revealing an alarming discrepancy between the effects lack of sleep brings men versus women. Scientists looked at two biological markers that relate to cardiovascular health and discovered that those markers change a lot when a woman loses sleep but not so much when a man loses sleep.
In other words, if a woman gets fewer than 8 hours of sleep, her risk for heart disease goes up (accordingto these biological indications), but men don't seem to show such a significant increase in their risk.
Not fair?
We all know men and women are built differently. Hormones, body composition, and other physiological variations are probably contributing to this mismatch seen in the lab. Heart disease continues to be the number one killer for both sexes, though let's not forget that, on average, women outlive men.
No matter who you are--man or woman--your risk for heart disease goes up the more you lose out on sleep. What this study shows is that this risk may go up more steeply for a woman than for a man the more she loses sleep.
That's not to say men get a free pass to sleep less. Statistically, women do complain more than men about poor sleep and not feeling rested in the morning. A few questions:
Sweet Dreams,
Michael J. Breus, PhD, DABSM
The Sleep Doctor
This article about women and sleep is also available at Dr. Breus's official blog, The Insomnia Blog.
Just this week a study came out of the U.K. revealing an alarming discrepancy between the effects lack of sleep brings men versus women. Scientists looked at two biological markers that relate to cardiovascular health and discovered that those markers change a lot when a woman loses sleep but not so much when a man loses sleep.
In other words, if a woman gets fewer than 8 hours of sleep, her risk for heart disease goes up (accordingto these biological indications), but men don't seem to show such a significant increase in their risk.
Not fair?
We all know men and women are built differently. Hormones, body composition, and other physiological variations are probably contributing to this mismatch seen in the lab. Heart disease continues to be the number one killer for both sexes, though let's not forget that, on average, women outlive men.
No matter who you are--man or woman--your risk for heart disease goes up the more you lose out on sleep. What this study shows is that this risk may go up more steeply for a woman than for a man the more she loses sleep.
That's not to say men get a free pass to sleep less. Statistically, women do complain more than men about poor sleep and not feeling rested in the morning. A few questions:
- Can men naturally get away with less sleep and not feel its ramifications as severely as women?
- Should we separate men and women in all studies about sleep?
- Will there be different risk parameters across the board for men and women?
- Could these biological markers be leading us astray in making definitive conclusions about risk between the sexes?
Sweet Dreams,
Michael J. Breus, PhD, DABSM
The Sleep Doctor
This article about women and sleep is also available at Dr. Breus's official blog, The Insomnia Blog.
5 Comments:
Hi,
I am a 44 year old hispanic male. I work as a security officer at the night shift 5 days a week. It's very difficult for me to get sleep in the morning, and even when I do sleep( 5 to 6 hours), I'm tired and sleepy the whole day. Does this job increase the risk of developing heart desease? and is it true that working at night causes aging and other deceases?
Cesar, Honolulu.
I hear about gadgets that produce sounds such as the surf or trickling water that promotes sleep. Do these have value. A friend has occasional problems falling asleep and wonder if this sort of assist can help.
Thanks
Oh man how I know about this. On 01/09/09 I had a Heart Attack and lost my life four times that day and almost did not come back from it. From Oct 2008 until Heart Attack day, I was getting about 4 to 5 hours sleep, I am 46, 126 lb white female in good shape, see my dr's once a year and thought I was doing everything right, My body knows all to well what the lack of sleep will do to the body!!
There is now some evidence to suggest that working the night shift can have serious health consequences.
As for noise machines the only data I have seen has shown that Ocean sounds, white noise, or a 60 beat per min music will help with sleep.
Sweet Dreams,
Michael Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor
ok so what about me i can sleep up to about 10 to 13 hours and then turn around in about an hour and go back to sleep for about another four to six hours
Post a Comment