Just three nights of bad sleep have been shown to activate inflammatory proteins in the blood that are tied to cardiovascular disease, according to a recently released study.
The findings published in the journal Biomarker Research found that even young, healthy individuals showed signs of heart risk markers. While physical activity still triggered beneficial proteins, it was not sufficient to offset the harm of consecutive sleepless nights.
“Unfortunately, nearly half of all Swedes regularly experience disturbed sleep, and this is particularly common among shift workers,” said the study’s lead author, Jonathan Cedernaes, physician and docent at Uppsala University, per Neuroscience News.
“That is why we wanted to try to identify mechanisms that affect how lack of sleep can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Ultimately, the purpose was to identify opportunities to address these problems.”
This is not the first time sleep quality has been tied to heart health. A study published in 2024 found that people who catch up on sleep over the weekend were tied to a 20% lower risk of developing heart disease.
The recent findings compared the levels of roughly 90 proteins in the blood of study participants following a session of regular sleep for three consecutive nights and a second session with only around four hours of sleep each of the three straight nights. Despite the participants all being young, healthy men of normal weight, poor sleep was associated with an increase in the proteins associated with a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease.
“With this study, we have improved our understanding of what role the amount of sleep we get plays in cardiovascular health. It’s important to point out that studies have also shown that physical exercise can offset at least some of the negative effects that poor sleep can cause,” said Cedernaes.
“But it’s also important to note that exercise cannot replace the essential functions of sleep.”