One extra hour of sleep per night appears to decrease the risk of coronary artery calcification, an early step down the path to cardiovascular disease.

Calcified arteries were found in 27 percent of those who slept less than five hours a night, 11 percent of those who slept five to seven hours and six percent of those who slept more than seven hours a night.

The benefits of sleep appeared to be greater for women. They did not vary according to race.

 

Recent studies have suggested that chronic partial sleep deprivation may be a risk factor for an array of common medical problems, including weight gain, diabetes and hypertension.

One study found that both long and short self-reported sleep durations were independently associated with a modestly increased risk of coronary events.

This is the first study to link objectively measured sleep duration to a pre-clinical marker for heart disease. 

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