People who suffer from insomnia have a higher risk of having a heart attack, researchers say.
A recent study found people who struggled to nod off had up to a 45 percent greater risk of heart problems than those who slept soundly.
"Sleep problems are common and fairly easy to treat", said lead researcher Dr Lars Erik Laugsand from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim.
"So it's important that people are aware of this connection between insomnia and heart attack and talk to their doctor if they're having symptoms."
The study, reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, looked at heart risks related to three major insomnia symptoms compared to people who rarely or never had these problems.
The authors found those who had struggled to fall asleep almost daily in the last month had a 45 percent higher heart attack risk.
Those who had problems staying asleep almost every night in the last month had a 30 percent higher heart attack risk.
Lastly people who didn't wake up feeling refreshed in the morning more than once a week had a 27 percent higher heart attack risk.
Heart attack risk also increases with each additional insomnia symptom, researchers said.
The study was based on 52,610 Norwegian adults who answered questions about insomnia as part of a national health survey in 1995-97.
Researchers examined hospital records and Norway's National Cause of Death Registry to identify 2,368 people who had first-time heart attacks during the following 11 years.
The researchers used survival analysis to adjust for factors that could influence the results such as age, sex, marital status, education level, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, weight, exercise and shift work. They also considered depression and anxiety, both of which can cause insomnia.
Up to 33 percent of people in the general population experience at least one insomnia symptom, according to researchers.
Previous smaller studies have linked insomnia to heart disease, including high blood pressure and heart attacks. Each year in England, an estimated 111,000 people have a heart attack.
It's unclear why insomnia is linked to higher heart attack risk. Some suggest sleep problems affect heart attack risk factors such as high blood pressure and inflammation.


据英国《每日邮报》10月25日报道，研究人员称，失眠的人心脏病发作的风险较高。

最近的一项研究表明，入睡困难的人比那些睡得很香的人罹患心脏病的几率高出45%。

"失眠问题非常常见，也很容易治疗"，来自特隆赫姆挪威科技大学的首席研究员拉尔斯·埃里克·劳桑德这样说。

"所以人们务必要警惕失眠症与心脏病之间的这种关联，一旦出现了失眠症状，就应该立即告诉医生。"

这一研究发表在美国心脏学会《循环》杂志上，观察了较之从不失眠的人，三大失眠症症状患者与罹患心脏病之间的关系。

作者发现那些在过去的一个月中几乎每天都入睡困难的人比一般人患上心脏病的风险高出45%。

而那些每晚都睡不安稳，易于惊醒的人则比普通人罹患心脏病的风险高出30%。
最后，一个星期不止一次醒得过早，感觉困乏不清醒的人心脏病发作的几率则要高出普通人27%。

研究人员还说，每增加一种失眠症状，心脏病发作的风险也会随之增加。
这项研究的根据是1995年到1997年间挪威国家健康调查的一部分，当时有52610个成年人回答了有关失眠症的问题。

研究人员查阅了医院以及挪威全国死亡原因登记中心的记录，发现在那之后的11年间，有2368人首次心脏病发作。

研究者运用生存分析来调试影响结果的各项因素，比如年龄、性别、婚姻状况、教育水平、血压、胆固醇、糖尿病、体重、运动已经轮班工作情况。他们还考虑了抑郁和焦虑这两种都可能引发失眠的情绪。


根据研究人员调查，总人口中有高达33%的人至少有一种失眠症状。

之前较小规模的研究已经将失眠症与心脏病联系起来，包括高血压和心脏病发作的关联。每年在英格兰，估计有11.1万人发作心脏病。

目前还不清楚为什么失眠症与较高的心脏病发作风险相关。有人认为睡眠问题可能影响了心脏病发作的相关因素，比如高血压和炎症。

• connection [kə´nekʃən] n.联系；关系；联运 (初中英语单词)
• journal [´dʒə:nəl] n.日记；日报；杂志 (初中英语单词)
• rarely [´reəli] ad.难得；非凡地 (初中英语单词)
• additional [ə´diʃənəl] a.附加的，额外的 (初中英语单词)
• survey [´sə:vei] vt.&n.俯瞰；审视；测量 (初中英语单词)
• identify [ai´dentifai] vt.认出；鉴定；验明 (初中英语单词)
• analysis [ə´næləsis] n.分解；分析(结果) (初中英语单词)
• adjust [ə´dʒʌst] vt.调整；校准；使适应 (初中英语单词)
• pressure [´preʃə] n.压榨 vt.对...施压力 (初中英语单词)
• depression [di´preʃən] n.沮丧，抑郁；萧条 (初中英语单词)
• anxiety [æŋ´zaiəti] n.挂念；渴望；焦虑的事 (初中英语单词)
• affect [ə´fekt] vt.影响；感动；假装 (初中英语单词)
• circulation [,sə:kju´leiʃən] n.循环；流传；发行(量) (高中英语单词)
• related [ri´leitid] a.叙述的；有联系的 (高中英语单词)
• symptom [´simptəm] n.症状，症候 (高中英语单词)
• norwegian [nɔ:´wi:dʒən] a.&n.挪威人(语)(的) (英语四级单词)
• status [´steitəs] n.身份；情形；状况 (英语四级单词)