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-   -   Lack of sleep can increase the risk of a cardiac arrest? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifting-gears/69596-lack-sleep-can-increase-risk-cardiac-arrest.html)

I am starting this thread following a really bad news I heard yesterday.

One of my batch-mates - who was on-site in Sudan - died of what is believed to be a cardiac arrest in his hotel room in the morning of 15th. His friend was there with him in another room and since there was no response, they had to break in into the room only to find him dead.

Recently I heard two other cases of young professionals in their early 20s dying of cardiac arrest.

I happened to receive one presentation which talks about the importance of sleep to reduce the risk of a cardiac problem like this. We all know that sleep deprivation can lead to lack of concentration, irritated mental condition, reduced immunity and all. Now this new study shows that people who sleep less than 7 hours a day are at a higher risk of cardiac arrest also. So according to this, even you work 8 hours, excercise well, eat healthy food, if you are not sleeping well, you are still at risk.

There are a number of articles in the net which talks about this, I am just giving one link here.

Lack of Sleep Can Kill: How Dangerous Is Not Sleeping? | Suite101.com

Doctors in t-bhp, please share your views on this. I believe this is important to the working crowd like us, and I am sure many of us are sleep deprived if less than 7 hours of sleep isn't sufficient.

Even SAP India CEO/CTO died due to cardiac arrest(as he himself admitted that he used to sleep for 3-4 hours/day)

I think the poll title is slightly misleading. I was thinking how can you decide if 'cardiac arrest risk is linked to sleeping' by a poll, then I realised the poll is to capture how my hours we sleep.

Yes his name (Ranjan Das) was mentioned in that ppt as an example.

True. Thanks for pointing out. Mods, please change the title of the thread to "How many hours do you sleep (What is your risk of a cardiac arrest)" or something similar.

I make it a point to get my 7-8 hrs of sleep everyday. For some reason we have this thinking that sleeping is for sissies. real men can survive without much sleep.

what's also important is getting quality sleep. ever since I bought my computer in 1998 and started working late nights, i have not been able to get up by myself in morning, which i used to earlier. So I am assuming having tired eyes disturbs our sleep and probably demands more. I try to make up by taking extra time on weekends.

EDIT: what I am doing now? well, got a production abend call and working :Frustrati to resolve it while browsing TBHP.

more edit: just read about Ranjan das. people say he was an unlikely candidate because he ate well and exercised. but there is only a limit that a body can take beyond which it will break no matter what. stress in business (even if it doesn't show) and lack of rest can indeed kill. Of course I am not discouting other reasons which may have been responsible in his particular case.

Despite my heavy body, I am sleeping 5-6 hours only, that too at night. No rest in afternoon which is understood. This thread has now given me a bit of tension.
Will verify with others and then update here.

Other than lack of sleep, IMHO, the biggest reason are
1) Tension.
2) Insecurity.

If you can meditate and the drift to sleep, nothing like that. In other words, put the glass down (step aside, forget about daily problems) and then go to sleep. I've to admit that sometimes it's easier said than done.

I've been getting troubled sleep lately, and I practiced calming my mind down before sleeping. It requires some will power initially, but then it can be easily done. This has really improved the quality of sleep.

Best way to get a sound sleep is to do things which you don't like. remember when we used to goto college and when we were told to study we used to get very good sleeps. Similarly do things like that and have a nice sleep.

I still remember during school days, dad used to wake me up at 5 AM, for studying. He only used to only wake me up but never forced to study. I open the book, start reading and then slowly drift to sleep - one of the most comfortable sleeps I ever had.

Another instance, Long time back when I wake up at 4:30 AM during Monday mornings at my native place - I had to travel 100 Kms by bus to the workplace - I make an instant decision that I'll be taking a leave that day, and then return to bed - the second best sleep I ever had. :D

The message was shared by Ravi V, Head of Microsoft India about the cause for the sad demise of Ranjan Das, President, SAP India.

What killed Ranjan Das and Lessons for Corporate India

A month ago, many of us heard about the sad demise of Ranjan Das from Bandra, Mumbai. Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in India. He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner. It was common to see him run on Bandra's Carter Road. Just after Diwali, on 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapsed with a massive heart attack and died. He is survived by his wife and two very young kids.

It was certainly a wake-up call for corporate India. However, it was even more disastrous for runners amongst us. Since Ranjan was anavid marathoner (in Feb 09, he ran Chennai Marathon at the same time some of us were running Pondicherry Marathon 180 km away), the question came as to why an exceptionally active, athletic person succumb to heart attack at 42 years of age.

Was it the stress?
A couple of you called me asking about the reasons. While Ranjan had mentioned that he faced a lot of stress, that is a common element in most of our lives. We used to think that by being fit, one can conquer the bad effects of stress. So I doubted if the cause was stress.

The Real Reason
However, everyone missed out a small line in the reports that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep. This is an earlier interview of Ranjan on NDTV in the program 'Boss' Day Out':
Boss' Day Out: Ranjan Das of SAP India
Here he himself admits that he would love to get more sleep (and that he was not proud of his ability to manage without sleep, contrary to what others extolled).

The Evidence
Last week, I was working with a well-known cardiologist on the subject of ‘Heart Disease caused by Lack of Sleep’. While I cannot share the video nor the slides because of confidentiality reasons, I have distilled the key points below in the hope it will save some of our lives.

Some Excerpts:

• Short sleep duration (<5 or 5-6 hours) increased risk for high BP by 350% to 500% compared to those who slept longer than 6 hours per night. Paper published in 2009.
As you know, high BP kills.

• Young people (25-49 years of age) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006.

• Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999.

• Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!

• Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis andheart disease. Paper published in 2004.

• Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.

Ideal Sleep
For lack of space, I cannot explain here the ideal sleep architecture. But in brief, sleep is composed of two stages: REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and non-REM. The former helps in mental consolidation while the latter helps in physical repair and rebuilding. During the night, you alternate between REM and non-REM stages 4-5 times.

The earlier part of sleep is mostly non-REM. During that period, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair your body. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type.

For you to be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important. No wonder when you wake up with an alarm clock after 5-6 hours of sleep, you are mentally irritable throughout the day (lack of REM sleep). And if you have slept for less than 5 hours, your body is in a complete physical mess (lack of non-REM sleep), you are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and your immunity is way down (I’ve been there, done that :)

Finally, as long-distance runners, you need an hour of extra sleep to repair the running related damage.

If you want to know if you are getting adequate sleep, take Epworth Sleepiness Test below.

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale


Interpretation: Score of 0-9 is considered normal while 10 and above abnormal. Many a times, I have clocked 21 out the maximum possible 24, the only saving grace being the last situation, since I don’t like to drive (maybe, I should ask my driver to answer that line:))
In conclusion:
Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising (marathoning!), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours. In my opinion, that killed him.
If you are not getting enough sleep (7 hours), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.
I always took pride in my ability to work 50 hours at a stretch whenever the situation warranted. But I was so spooked after seeing the scientific evidence last week that since Saturday night, I ensure I do not even set the alarm clock under 7 hours. Now, that is a nice excuse to get some more sleep.

Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the same, perhaps out of ignorance. Please forward this mail to as many of your colleagues as possible, especially those who might be short-changing their sleep. If we can save even one young life because of this email, I would be the happiest person on earth.

If there is one thing I take for granted, its my sleep. Believe me when I say that I sleep like a child. Whether a holiday or the most stressful day at work, I am in deep slumber within 60 seconds (or less) of resting my head on the pillow. My sleep varies between 7 - 8 hours. 7.5 hours on most days, 8 hours on some (especially when the next day is a holiday). I sleep so deep that I need two alarms every morning. Seriously :), I'm told its a gift to sleep so peacefully.

A related post from another thread:

Sorry to hear about your batchmate.

The concept of 9 hr working day was the basis of the Labour Movement in Canada and was copied in the USA, culminating in an 8 hr labour day. Workers in New York carried placards "8 hrs work, 8 hrs sleep and 8 hrs rest and recreation" and that was finally made law.

These days though, difficult to disconnect from work. we are all so wired. We have to try hard to stay disconnected. Not easy.

manavdotcom- well said.
STRESS is the main killer.smoking ,alcholol or other drug abuse are only secondary.
ONE MORE WARNING-NEVER MISS OUT YOUR BREAKFAST.

I love & always catch up on my sleep. Even if I sleep late, I make it up immediately on the following day which sometimes irritates others, but I never miss it. I know that my body needs that.

@clevermax: Thanks for starting such thread, this is news for me as I only take around 5-6 hrs sleep.

@manav: Thanks for sharing such a nice information.