Insomnia linked to higher mortality risk in men

Researchers have found that some insomnia symptoms, the most common sleep disorder, are associated with an increased risk of mortality in men.

The study's lead author Yanping Li from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) said that their research also showed that among men who experience specific symptoms of insomnia, there is a modest increase risk in death from cardiovascular-related issues.

Specifically, researchers report that difficulty falling sleep and non-restorative sleep were both associated with a higher risk of mortality, particularly mortality related to cardiovascular disease.

Researchers followed more than 23,000 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study who self-reported insomnia symptoms for a period of six years.

After adjusting for lifestyle factors, age and other chronic conditions, researchers found that men who reported difficulty initiating sleep and non-restorative sleep had a 55 percent and 32 percent increased risk of CVD-related mortality over the six year follow up, respectively, when compared to men who did not report these insomnia-related symptoms.

The study will be published in Circulation.