UPI reports 35% of Americans get 'poor' or 'fair' sleep, and one in five say they don't wake up feeling refreshed.<br />According to researchers from the University of California - Berkeley, that's putting those Americans at increased risk for heart disease.<br />Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, is caused by chronic inflammation.<br />It's believed to be the underlying cause of roughly half of all cases of heart disease -- and all heart disease-related deaths -- worldwide.<br />Sleep loss has been linked with chronic inflammation in multiple studies.<br />The connection may be that fragmented sleep increases inflammation, which in turn raises a person's risk for atherosclerosis and stroke.
