BBC NEWS | Health | Skipping sleep 'hardens arteries'

BBC NEWS | Health | Skipping sleep 'hardens arteries':

"Calcified arteries were found in nearly a third of people who slept fewer than five hours a night.

This dropped to around one in 10 for those who slept an extra hour, the Journal of the American Medical Association study of 495 adults found....

Lead researcher Dr Diane Lauderdale, of the University of Chicago, said there were several possible explanations for the link that they found...Firstly, there may be some factor not yet identified that can both reduce sleep duration and increase calcification.

Or it might be down to blood pressure - high blood pressure increases the likelihood of calcification and blood pressure goes down during sleep. Alternatively, stress or a stress hormone like cortisol, which has been tied to decreased sleep and increased calcification, may play a role."