A new study by British researchers shows that women who deprive themselves of sleep may be more likely to die of heart disease.

Warwick Medical School researchers from the University of Warwick published their study this week in the journal Hypertension. The authors write that women who slept five hours or less were twice as likely to suffer from high blood pressure (hypertension) than women who slept seven hours or more a night.

They found no difference between men sleeping less than five hours or more than seven hours each night.

“Sustained sleep curtailment, ensuing excessive daytime sleepiness and the higher cardiovascular risk are causes for concern,” lead author Prof. Francesco Cappuccio from the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School, said in a statement.

“Emerging evidence also suggests a potential role for sleep deprivation as a predictor or risk factor for conditions like obesity and diabetes,” he added.

Cappuccio and his colleagues analyzed data pertaining to more than 6,500 participants, more than 4,000 men and more than 1,500 women. All were volunteers from 20 civil service departments based in London.

The researchers established hypertension as blood pressure equal to or higher than 140/90 mm Hg within their sample, or if the participant regularly required blood pressure medications.

Cappuccio said lack of sleep had been linked to a higher risk of developing high blood pressure but also to increased death from cardiovascular cause. “It is a stark finding but the results are highly suggestive of a causal link,” the Daily Mail quotes him as saying.

He will present his research later this month at the British Sleep Society's annual meeting in Cambridge, according to the Daily Mail.