Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, with stroke coming in at number five. Scientists used data from more than 1.6 million people to link insomnia genes to a higher risk of heart disease and stroke but not atrial fibrillation. Susanna Larsson, an associate professor of cardiovascular and nutritional epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm in Sweden, and Dr. Hugh Markus, a professor of stroke medicine at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, published their analysis this week in the journal Circulation. This analysis allowed her to measure the odds of cardiovascular disease risk associated with an individual's genetic propensity toward insomnia. Larsson used publicly available data from large association studies of people with various forms of heart disease. In those individuals with the insomnia genetic variants, the odds of developing coronary artery disease were 12% higher than in those without the SNPs. For heart failure, the odds were 16% higher, and for all types of stroke combined, they were 7% higher. Another weakness is that the SNPs that the researchers used in this analysis only account for 2.6% of the genetic variance that occurs in insomnia, meaning that they only contribute a small amount to the likelihood of a person developing insomnia. It's important to identify the underlying reason for insomnia and treat it.", says Susanna Larsson. (Credits: www.medicalnewstoday.com)
