Insomnia itself may raise your heart-failure risk, gene data suggest
In one genetic study of 367,586 UK adults, an inherited tendency to insomnia went with 21% higher odds of heart failure, even allowing for depression.
What the study found
Genes that raise insomnia risk went with 21% higher heart-failure odds
In one genetic study of 367,586 UK adults, insomnia-linked gene variants went with 21% higher odds of heart failure, even allowing for depression, and with five other heart and vessel diseases. Any comparison of melatonin users with non-users has to separate the insomnia from the pill.
The caveat · Studied insomnia, not melatonin
The study measured an inherited tendency to insomnia and never looked at melatonin or any sleep aid. Everyone in it was of European ancestry. About 28% of the people in the insomnia gene data were also in the heart data, which can pull the estimate toward an ordinary association, though the authors judged that bias likely small.