Sleep a potential target to lower cardio-metabolic risk

Improving sleep quality over time effectively reduces blood pressure and lipid levels, as shown in a study.

Researchers looked at the effect of sleep on cardiometabolic disease risk factors over 24 months of follow-up. They conducted a secondary analysis of the MODERN trial, which involved 121 individuals aged 40–70 years with three or more cardiometabolic risk factors.

MODERN participants had been randomized to a health and lifestyle modification intervention (n=59) or usual care (n=62). All of them underwent 7 day/night actigraphy to assess total sleep time, sleep efficiency (%), number of awakenings/night, and physical activity levels. Blood pressure, blood lipid and glycaemic levels, anthropometric, and diet measures were also collected.

The mean age of the cohort overall was 59 years, and 37 percent were male. Baseline sleep measures did not differ between the two groups. At the 24-month follow-up, cardiometabolic risk factors improved in both groups, although the change in blood pressure was significantly greater in the intervention than in the usual care group (systolic blood pressure, –11 vs –4 mm Hg; p=0.014). There were no between-group differences observed for diet, physical activity, or sleep parameters.

An increase in sleep efficiency showed an independent association with lower systolic blood pressure (p=0.002) and higher high-density lipoprotein levels (p=0.033), whereas an increase in total sleep time was linked to lower low-density lipoprotein levels (p=0.038) at 24 months.

These present data suggest that sleep is a potential target to reduce cardiometabolic risk.