The heart sends special signals to the brain to increase sleep following a heart attack, helping the heart to heal, according to an NHLBI-funded study published in Nature. The findings suggest that sleep should be a focus of clinical care and management following a heart attack.
Researchers have known for some time that sleep is a key part of cardiovascular health. However, the underlying mechanisms connecting heart disease to sleep have been understudied.
In the new study, the researchers examined the brains and hearts of mice that had undergone heart attacks. They showed that heart attacks increase sleep by activating a sleep circuit in the brain through an immune mechanism, which was not activated in mice that did not have heart attacks. Increased sleep after a heart attack appears to be a beneficial adaptation that limits immune signaling in the heart and reduces heart inflammation. The researchers also made similar findings in small group of patients who had experienced heart attacks.
"This study sheds new light on the interconnection between heart disease and sleep," said Michelle Olive, Ph.D., Associate Director of the Basic and Early Translational Research Program in the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at NHLBI. "It suggests that more sleep could speed healing after a heart attack and suggests potential pathways for improving cardiac care after these events. Additional studies are needed, particularly clinical studies, to confirm the findings."