Sleep may be as important for your heart as diet and physical activity, study says

If you want to keep your heart healthy, add a good night’s rest to your to-do list, a new study suggests.

At cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, claiming an estimated 18 million lives each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In the United States, the scenario is no different according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One person dies of cardiovascular disease every 34 seconds in the US.

In June, the American Heart Association added sleep duration to its cardiovascular health checklist, now called “Life’s Essential 8.” These science-based guidelines were created to help all Americans improve their heart health. The guidelines can also help people in Brazil, which records about 400,000 deaths a year from heart disease.

The eight items are:

• quit smoking
• eat better
• stay active
• control weight
• control blood pressure
• control cholesterol
• reduce blood sugar
• have a healthy sleep

Some of the research behind the change was published Wednesday in the scientific journal of the American Heart Association.

The research, by scientists at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, shows that cardiovascular health guidelines are more effective at predicting a person’s risk of heart disease if they include sleep.

Researchers analyzed the sleep records of 2,000 middle-aged and older adults in an ongoing US study of cardiovascular disease and risk factors called the Multiethnic Atherosclerosis Study, or MESA.

Participants participated in a detailed sleep survey. They filled out sleep questionnaires, wore a device that measured sleep for seven days, and did a nightly study in which scientists could observe how they slept.

Poor sleep habits “are ubiquitous” among Americans, the study says, including among participants. About 63% of the volunteers slept less than seven hours a night and 30% slept less than six hours. THE optimal sleep duration for an adult is between seven and nine hours a night according to the CDC.

People who slept less than seven hours a night had a greater chance of “poor sleep efficiency”, irregular sleep patterns, excessive daytime sleepiness and sleep apnea. Specifically, nearly half of the people in the study had moderate to severe sleep apnea. More than a third reported symptoms of insomnia and 14% reported excessive daytime sleepiness.

Those who slept less than seven hours had a higher prevalence of risk factors for heart disease, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Other research has also shown connections between short sleep and chronic diseases that can also harm heart health.

“Poor sleep is also linked to other bad health behaviors,” said study author Nour Makarem, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health. These bad health behaviors also contribute to poor heart health.

There is growing evidence that people who don’t get enough sleep often have a poor diet, Nour said. This may be in part because sleep is a restorative process that, among other things, produces and regulates hormones that can make you feel full or hungry. When these hormones get out of control, you can end up eating more and reaching for high-calorie foods that give you quick energy.

Poor sleep is also linked to less involvement in physical activity, Nour said.

“Both a poor diet and lack of exercise, of course, are also a major risk factor for heart disease,” she said. “So sleep is related to many cardiovascular disease risk factors, including even psychological risk factors.”

Poor sleep can increase stress levels and risk for depression, both of which affect heart health.

“In a nutshell, sleep is related to clinical or psychological and lifestyle-related risk factors for heart disease. So it’s not surprising that poor sleep increases the future risk of heart disease,” added Nour.

Sharon Cobb, director of pre-licensing nursing programs and associate professor at the Mervyn M. Dymally School of Nursing at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, said it is important for healthcare professionals to consider sleep when assessing one’s general health.

She hopes future studies will provide additional evidence of a connection between good health and good sleep and prompt more professionals to ask questions.

“They measure your blood pressure, they ask how you eat and exercise, but they don’t ask too much ‘how are you sleeping at night?’” said Cobb, who was not involved in the new research. health”.

Five tips to avoid high cholesterol