Lack of sleep increases chance heart disease

Those who do not get enough sleep are twice more likely to die of heart disease, a new study has found.

Research, conducted by the University of Warwick's medical school, has discovered that a lack of sleep is linked to increased blood pressure which raises a person's risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

The report, to be presented to the British Sleep Society, analysed date from 10,000 government employees over a 17 year period. It found that those who cut their sleep from seven hours to five hours a night increased their risk of death from all causes a fold of 1.7.

Professor Francesco Cappuccio said: "Fewer hours sleep and greater levels of sleep disturbance have become widespread in industrialised societies.

"This change, largely the result of sleep curtailment to create more time for leisure and shift-work, has meant that reports of fatigue, tiredness and excessive daytime sleepiness are more common than a few decades ago.

"Sleep represents the daily process of physiological restitution and recovery, and lack of sleep has far-reaching effects."