This is a very interesting study, but, as a sleep physician, I was surprised to find no mention of sleep apnea as an independent risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis.
The role of sleep apnea in promoting the development of atherosclerosis has been demonstrated in a large number of investigations and scientific studies. As a single example, a review article by Dr. Schulz of Giessen (Germany) that appeared in Deutsches Ärzteblatt in 2006 presented this relationship quite clearly.
In view of the (high) body-mass index of the participants in this study, I suspect that sleep apnea was a common problem among them.
Footnotes
Conflict of interest statement
The author states that he has no conflict of interest as defined by the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.