Getting to the Heart of Women’s Sleep
admin on March 25th, 2008 | Filed under Heart, Women's Health
Sleeping Beauty knew a thing or two about health when she took that long nap. In a new study, researchers found that women who had difficulty sleeping increased their chance of developing heart disease and diabetes. Dr. Edward Suarez at Duke University studied both men and women, taking a detailed sleep history ( time to get to sleep, hours slept, wakefulness during the night and level of drowsiness in the AM), emotional profile ( level of anger, depression and hostility) and then analyzed their blood for fibrinogen ( a clotting factor), glucose, insulin level, inflammatory proteins ( C reactive protein), and cholesterol.
Sawing logs or tossing like a pancake in bed didn’t seem to affect men, but for women it did more than ruin our beauty sleep - it struck our heart. This all may be due to hormones - men with high levels of testosterone reported greater problems falling asleep but didn’t show any increased risk factors. Testosterone may simply blunt the damage caused by poor sleep, said Suarez. Interestingly, he didn’t seem to consider estradiol levels in women, probably because his test subjects were perimenopausal/postmenopausal.
This brings up a very interesting quandry for women: Could getting a good night’s sleep be the key to better health, and if so..does that mean separate beds or even rooms? “I don’t think we have to wait 20, 30 or 40 years to start intervention,” Dr. Phyllis Zee, director of the sleep-disorders center at Northwestern University, was quoted in Time. “Just as we teach patients to eat well and exercise for their health, we should be telling them to sleep well.”
Personally, I’ve noticed a difference since I got my Sleep Number bed…yes the one that lets you inflate your mattress for support ( in case you’re wondering…my number is 60) and I easily sleep7-8 hours uninterrupted. Sleeping for 4 hours in total darkness allows melatonin and leptin levels to function normally, which in turn, helps to stabilize our weight. So don’t feel guilty about grabbing those ZZZ’s…tell your family it’s Doctor’s Orders!
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