Reliance Imperial Pharmacy
News Bulletin
January 2023
Sleep appears to play a key role in heart health.
How well you sleep may have an impact on how healthy your heart is.
When you don’t sleep, you may think more slowly. Your eyes may feel heavy. And you might wish you could lie down all day.
But as it turns out, sleep deprivation may have a longer-term effect on your cardiovascular health even if you can’t feel it the day after you’ve pulled an all-nighter.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), getting too little sleep has been tied to, type 2 Diabetes and high blood pressure.
And all three of those conditions have been tied to negative heart health outcomes. That includes a raised risk of stroke and heart attack.
Interrupted breathing from sleep apnea causes fragmented sleep, which is one reason why the condition is tied to multiple cardiovascular problems. It also reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood, which may worsen the impact of sleep apnea on heart health.
Meanwhile, the American Heart Association says that too little sleep can increase inflammation in the body. And higher inflammation has been tied to a raised risk of developing heart disease.
So, how much sleep are you supposed to get if you want to keep your heart healthy?
According to the CDC, adults typically need at least seven hours of sleep every night. The amounts are higher for kids, and they vary by age.
If you’re trying to get more or better sleep, consider these tips from the CDC:
- Develop strategies for relaxation:If heart concerns spur anxiety, they can keep your mind racing when you just want to ease into sleep. Techniques like deep breathing, yoga, light stretching, and mindfulness meditation are just a few beneficial approaches for people struggling with how to sleep with inflammation around the heart, heart disease, or other heart problems.
- Plan a consistent sleep schedule:Keeping the same bedtime and wake-up time every day is widely considered to be one of the keyways to encourage healthy and stable sleep from night tonight.
- Design an accommodating bedroom:Set your sleep environment to meet your needs by ensuring that the bedroom has a comfortable mattress and pillow, a pleasant temperature, and as much quiet and darkness as possible.
- Avoid negative influences on sleep:Alcohol and caffeine can both interfere with sleep and are best avoided at night. Excessive use of electronic devices, including your cell phone, can also throw off your sleep patterns.
These tips and other elements of sleep hygiene can serve as a foundation for better sleep, creating habits that make it easier to get both the quantity and quality of sleep that you need.
