There is a truth universally acknowledged that kids need sleep, a lot of sleep. Yet, most adolescents fall short of the eight-to-ten hours of shut-eye recommended by the National Sleep Foundation. However, total amount of sleep isn't the only thing that matters for adolescent health and development. Late nights and erratic sleep schedules can impact young people's heart health in later life, according to a team led by researchers from Penn State College of Medicine.
In a new study, the team found two distinct patterns that could contribute to increased cardiac risk. They evaluated two separate sets of adolescents during different times of the year. During the school year, teens with irregular sleep schedules on weekdays had lower heart rate variability (HRV), a key marker of cardiovascular function. On non-school days, like vacations, teens who go to sleep later and sleep in also had lower HRV. Both sleep patterns are signs that an adolescent's internal body clock is out-of-sync with their sleep-wake cycle and academic, social or work schedules.
The findings, recently published in the journal SLEEP, were independent of factors such as demographics and total amount of sleep. While the researchers said they don't know if these changes are permanent, blunted HRV is predictive of increased cardiovascular disease risk. The findings suggest that maintaining a regular sleep-wake cycle may protect adolescents from future adverse cardiac outcomes.
