Increased Mortality Rate In Those With Chronic Insomnia

A good night's rest is essential for overall health and well being. Inadequate sleep can harm circadian rhythm and contribute to numerous health issues and increase the risk of obesity.

New findings published in The American Journal of Medicine show that people who suffer from persistent insomnia are at a greater risk of increased mortality.

Insomnia is a rather common affliction, especially with most of us sleeping with a screen of some kind next to our face. Estimates show that about 20 percent of U.S. adults are affected. However only 10 percent suffer from persistent (or chronic) insomnia.

"We hypothesized that insomnia that was persistent over eight years, rather than intermittent insomnia, was associated with death independent of the effects of sedatives, opportunity for sleep (to distinguish it from sleep deprivation), and other confounding factors in a representative sample of the general adult community," said lead study author Sairam Parthasarathy, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson and director of the Center for Sleep Disorders at the University of Arizona Medical Center--University Campus (soon to be Banner-University Medical Center Tucson), in a news release. "An enhanced understanding of the association between persistence of insomnia and death would inform treatment of the 'at-risk' population."

For the study, researchers examined the persistence of insomnia complaints in 1409 adult participants from the Tucson Epidemiological Study of Airway Obstructive Disease (TESAOD). The study began in 1972 and was based on multiple follow-up surveys to 1996 and continuous mortality follow-up data for a total of 38 years.

They collected blood and serum samples cryopreserved at baseline in 1972 and subsequently at multiple time points. Researchers asked questions about sleep and related habits were inserted into the two surveys completed between 1984 and 1985 and then again between 1990 and 1992.

They based the persistence of insomnia in both the 1984-1985 and 1990-1992 surveys (persistent insomnia), in either but not both (intermittent insomnia) or in neither of the two surveys (never insomnia).

Findings revealed that the CRP levels increased significantly only in the persistent-insomnia group. Persistent insomnia was associated with a 58 percent mortality risk. This was even true after adjusting for various factors, including age, sex, body weight, smoking, hypnotics and physical activity in those with persistent insomnia.

Of course, CPR levels are associated with an increased mortality rate themselves. However, after adjusting for that factor, the risk remained at 36 percent for those with persistent insomnia.