Risk of cardiovascular disease in people with narcolepsy: a plain language summary of publication

What is this summary about? This plain language summary describes an article published in the journal Sleep that builds on the understanding that there is a connection between cardiovascular health and sleep. The study in the article looked at whether there was an increased risk of people with narcolepsy developing a new cardiovascular condition (after a narcolepsy diagnosis) compared with people who did not have narcolepsy. What were the results? People with narcolepsy had a higher risk of developing new cardiovascular conditions (after being diagnosed with narcolepsy) compared to people without narcolepsy – including a 71% increased relative risk of stroke; a 35% increased relative risk of heart failure; a 45% increased relative risk of major adverse cardiac event (including stroke, heart failure, and coronary artery bypass); a 48% increased relative risk of any combination of stroke, atrial fibrillation, or edema; and a 30% increased relative risk of cardiovascular disease (any combination of stroke, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and myocardial infarction). What do the results mean? Before diagnosis, people with narcolepsy tend to have more comorbidities (health problems) than people without narcolepsy. Further, people with narcolepsy who do not already have a cardiovascular condition before their diagnosis of narcolepsy may be at higher risk of developing new cardiovascular conditions, compared with people without narcolepsy.