People who struggle with sleep might be at greater risk of developing cardiovascular problems, according to Prof Hugh Markus, of Cambridge University.  Those (including the author of this posting) who are genetically predisposed to insomnia have a greater risk of heart failure and coronary heart disease.

I think I must have personally tried every drug and sleep aid available, and nonetheless can have frequent strings of four or five sleepless nights in succession.  Much time has been spent visiting puzzled sleep doctors. 

Latterly, I have developed two cocktails of fairly reliable sleep aids, one I use for about three weeks in succession, then, when it is feeling less effective, change for about a week to a second mixture.  Despite assaulting myself with weird blends of pharmaceutical, my heart is as strong as an oxen. So the problem of sleep- deprivation is similar to that of diet, that is, we are all different physiologically, and the answers can only come with determined experimentation, hopefully with safe drugs.  This is a do-it-yourself industry; sleep doctors focus mainly on sleep apnea, which they know how to treat.