Right amount of sleep can vastly improve your heart health: study

Right amount of sleep can vastly improve your heart health: study

PanARMENIAN.Net - Regardless of your genetic disposition or any cardiovascular health risks you may or may not have, a new study says that the right amount of sleep can vastly improve your heart health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has long cautioned that not getting enough sleep can increase heart health complications. But now, scientists are suggesting that too much sleep might also harm your heart health. But never fear: there is a sweet spot. Sleeping between six and nine hours a night will help your heart health most, the new study concluded.

Published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the study examined the self-reported sleep habits, genetic information, and medical records of nearly half a million participants. These participants were volunteers whose information was kept with the UK Biobank, and they were ages 40-69 and had never had a heart attack. The study followed these participants for seven years.

Defining a short amount of sleep as less than six hours a night and a long amount of sleep as more than nine hours a night, the study concluded that the participants who got between six and nine hours of sleep per night were less likely to have a heart attack.

In line with the CDC's cautions about the need to get enough sleep to promote long-term health, the study found that participants who regularly slept for less than six hours per night were 20% more likely to have a heart attack than those who slept between six to nine hours a night. But the part that may surprise you is what the study found about what happens to heart health when you sleep a lot.

Participants who slept for more than nine hours per night were 34% more likely to have a heart attack than people sleeping within the optimal six to nine hour range. And the numbers got more discouraging the greater participants strayed from the six to nine hour range. Getting closer to five hours of sleep per night increased participants' heart attack risk by 52%. And getting closer to 10 hours per night increased the odds by about half, as well.

But it's not all bad news. The study also found that sleep can be a vitally important key to ensuring heart health for people who are predisposed to developing heart conditions. Because when participants with genetic predisposition to heart disease slept between six and nine hours a night, they were 18% less likely to have a heart attack.

 Top stories
Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive.
In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million).
The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot".
The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads.
Partner news
---