Sleep and heart health are closely linked. The body uses this rest period to perform maintenance and repair operations, including for the heart and blood vessels.
Why Sleep Is Essential for a Healthy Heart
Taking care of your sleep is one of the most accessible ways to reduce cardiovascular risks. As highlighted by Professor Pedro Marques-Vidal of CHUV, adopting healthy sleeping habits could have a direct impact on the way our heart works and could even reduce the chances of developing heart disease .
Now, it's worth considering that lack of sleep can also be detrimental. If you're one of those people who sleep less than seven hours a night, you're more likely to be at increased risk for heart disease. And that risk increases significantly with every hour you lose, with those who sleep less than six hours a night experiencing a 48 percent increase in their risk of heart disease.
On the other hand, it’s important to understand that quality sleep isn’t just about the amount of sleep you get. As crucial as the number of hours you sleep may be, the quality of that sleep is just as, if not more, important. Adding good quality sleep to your routine can further decrease your risk of heart disease, providing up to 15 to 20 percent more protection.
The impact of lack of sleep on the heart
If you think that shortened sleep only affects your mood or concentration, think again. It also has much bigger and more dangerous consequences for your heart. According to some research, people who sleep less than seven hours a night have a higher risk of heart disease. Even worse, those who sleep less than four hours a night are 2.4 times more likely to suffer from heart problems.
In fact, inadequate sleep can lead to health problems that are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. For example, sleeping less than six hours a night increases the risk of developing or dying from heart disease by 48%.
Sleep disorders are also not to be overlooked. Researchers at the CHUV Sleep Investigation and Research Center, in collaboration with the Paris Cardiovascular Research Center, have determined that sleep apnea increases the risk of heart problems sevenfold. This particular sleep disorder, as well as others, can increase the risk of serious diseases such as hypertension, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
"It is important to take care of your sleep to reduce cardiovascular risks," insists Professor Pedro Marques-Vidal of CHUV among other experts. Ultimately, optimal sleep is not something to be taken lightly - it is vital for a healthy heart.
How Quality Sleep Can Prevent Heart Disease
Teams from the CHUV Sleep Investigation and Research Center, in collaboration with the Paris Cardiovascular Research Center, have conducted in-depth research to establish a link between sleep and cardiovascular risk.
According to their research, good quality sleep can provide 15 to 20 percent more protection against heart disease. This is due to a number of key sleep-related factors that, when managed well, can have a beneficial effect on the heart. These factors include sleep duration, chronotype (whether morning or evening), frequency of insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, and sleep apnea.
It was found that sleep apnea can increase the risk of heart problems by seven times, highlighting the importance of managing this condition. Furthermore, the results indicate that people with optimal sleep with a score of 5 (i.e. good management of all the key factors mentioned) have a 63% reduced risk of cardiovascular disease compared to those with a score of 0-1. Putting this into a broader perspective, almost 60% of cardiovascular events could be avoided if individuals had an optimal sleep score of 5.
