A recent study discovered that individuals experiencing subpar objective sleep quality tend to show negative signs in their physical health, notably with higher blood pressure.
Accurate sleep quality encompasses more than just the overall duration of sleep—it includes factors like the various sleep stages, the duration of wake periods, and the frequency of awakenings.
What is the study about?
The University of Tsukuba in Japan conducted an extensive study involving 100 adults aged 30-59. To evaluate sleep quality, researchers utilised electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements, monitoring participants’ sleep for five nights within the comfort of their homes.
Electroencephalography, a method capturing the brain’s spontaneous electrical activity, was employed in this study. In addition to home-based EEG measurements, participants underwent detailed health examinations at a healthcare facility in Tokyo.
Based on ten sleep parameters derived from the five-night EEG data, participants were categorised into three groups:
- The excellent sleep group (39 participants)
- The intermediate group (46 participants)
- The poor sleep group (15 participants)
The findings, published in Scientific Reports, leveraged unsupervised machine learning within artificial intelligence (AI) to assess 50 physical health parameters across these distinct sleep quality groups.
What were the findings?
The study’s findings revealed noteworthy disparities in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, y-GTP (a marker indicating liver function), and serum creatinine (a marker reflecting kidney function).
Among these, the discrepancies in systolic blood pressure—measuring arterial pressure during heartbeats—were particularly significant. The researchers noted a consistent elevation in systolic blood pressure among participants in the poor sleep group.
The research uncovered a subtle correlation between the objective measurement of sleep quality using EEG during sleep and the subjective perception of sleep quality. Notably, according to the researchers, only the accurate sleep quality showed a connection with systolic blood pressure.
Furthermore, the study pinpointed specific combinations that exhibited relatively robust correlations between the 10 EEG-derived sleep metrics and the 50 physical health parameters.
Sleep and Health
Insufficient high-quality sleep can significantly impact an individual’s health, overall well-being, and capacity to concentrate on day-to-day activities.
It has the potential to compromise the immune system and elevate the risk of conditions such as cardiovascular disease.
While the optimal amount of sleep varies from person to person, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises adults to aim for a minimum of 7 hours of sleep each night. Alarmingly, the CDC estimates that one in three adults falls short of meeting this recommended sleep duration.
Insufficient sleep has a multifaceted consequence on health, influencing critical aspects of the immune system, weight regulation, cardiovascular health, hormone levels, and brain function. Sleep deprivation renders individuals more susceptible to infections and respiratory diseases, with prolonged recovery times.
