Shorter sleep duration linked to greater carotid intima-media thickness in men but not in women
TUESDAY, Nov. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Shorter sleep duration appears to be associated with greater carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in men but not in women, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2010, held from Nov. 13 to 17 in Chicago.
Megan R. Sands, of Brown University in Providence, R.I., and colleagues evaluated 617 black and white middle-aged, healthy participants from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults ancillary sleep study to assess the association between sleep duration and IMT.
The researchers found that the mean IMT among females was 0.68 mm; it was 0.74 mm among males. On average, men slept 5.7 hours and women slept 6.3 hours. After adjustment for covariates, the investigators found that one hour of longer sleep duration was associated with 0.021 mm lesser IMT among men (P = 0.01) and 0.002 mm lesser IMT among women (P = 0.83).
"In summary, shorter objectively measured sleep duration was associated with greater carotid IMT among men but not women," the authors write. "These findings provide novel evidence of potential underlying biological mechanisms, and suggest that sleep duration may be an important risk factor associated with carotid IMT in men."
Abstract No. 16034
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