Researchers at the Karolinska Institute report that poor sleep at night raises the risk of arterial thrombosis in the legs by a substantial margin, a finding published in the European Heart Journal. The data highlight a clear link between how long people sleep and vascular health, drawing attention to the potential consequences of chronic sleep deprivation on leg arteries.
Peripheral arterial disease PAD affects more than 200 million people globally. In PAD, blood clots or blockages in the leg arteries reduce blood flow, impair everyday function, and heighten the chances of stroke or heart attack. These realities underscore the importance of recognizing sleep as a factor in vascular risk alongside traditional clues like blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
In the most recent analysis, more than 650,000 participants contributed to the study. From a subset of 53.4 thousand individuals, researchers observed that sleeping fewer than five hours per night correlated with roughly double the risk of arterial complications compared with a seven to eight hour sleep window, a pattern that persisted across the broader datasets used in the investigation. This finding suggests that even moderate sleep restriction could play a meaningful role in PAD risk profiles.
Further examination of two large cohorts, totaling 156 thousand and 452 thousand people, reinforced the connection. Importantly, the relationship appears bidirectional: short sleep increases the chance of developing PAD, while having PAD can contribute to poorer sleep due to pain, discomfort, and nocturnal symptoms. This reciprocity signals the need for a holistic approach to vascular health that includes sleep quality as a key consideration.
Experts advocate additional research to better understand how to break this two-way loop between sleep deprivation and PAD. In the meantime, boosting physical activity and maintaining a generally healthy lifestyle emerge as practical steps to lower vascular risk. For individuals with PAD, addressing pain and sleep disturbances can improve sleep quality, which may, in turn, help support overall heart and vascular health.
Left unchecked, inadequate sleep has been linked to an elevated risk of coronary heart disease, a condition already driven by clogged arteries. The emerging evidence connects restful sleep with better arterial function, offering a potentially impactful, accessible target for prevention in both North American populations and beyond.