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October 2008 - Sleep Better |
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homepage > Wellness Notes
Wellness Notes:
Sleep and a Healthy Heart
Most heart-health recommendations sound like work – go jogging, eat broccoli, quit smoking. But there’s one thing you can do for a healthier heart that takes no work at all: get some sleep.
The 411 on HBP
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is sometimes called a silent killer because there are no symptoms until it’s quite advanced. According to estimates, one in three Americans suffers from high blood pressure, but a third of those don’t know they have it.
Hypertension is dangerous because that increased pressure in your veins and arteries makes your heart work extra-hard just to do its job. Over time, that additional effort takes its toll and can contribute to a heart attack, heart failure or even a stroke.
Most of us know that blood pressure is raised by eating too much sodium, not exercising enough, smoking cigarettes and being chronically stressed. A less well-known factor is insufficient sleep.
Sleep & Hypertension
Researchers looked at a decade’s worth of data for more than 4,800 Americans. Their findings, published in a 2006 edition of Hypertension, showed that adults who get no more than five hours of sleep each night had double the risk of high blood pressure.
Another large study found similar results: among the 10,000 white-collar Brits tracked for 17 years, those who cut back to five or fewer hours of nightly sleep had more than double the risk of death from heart disease (and increased risk from other causes as well).
The UK study, published in the journal SLEEP in 2007, also found non-cardiovascular health risks for those sleeping too much (nine or more hours nightly). Researchers concluded that about seven hours a night seems optimal for good health.
Why Sleep Matters
Sleep directly impacts blood pressure. When we sleep, it’s at its lowest; and whether it’s normal or high overall, blood pressure increases immediately upon waking. Over time, too little sleep seems to contribute to higher blood pressure throughout your day.
But there could be indirect factors too. James Gangwisch, the Columbia University doctor who led the Hypertension study, wrote, “Short sleep duration could also influence hypertension incidence by making it more difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”
Citing a National Sleep Foundation poll, Dr. Gangwisch noted that chronic sleep deprivation led to “irritability, impatience, pessimism, and feeling … stressed.”
And that, he argues, could sap your “willpower to follow dietary or exercise regimens”
to fight hypertension.
It’s a good point. Getting enough sleep helps you feel good – focused, alert, calm and happy. With that mindset, it’s much easier to look at the big picture and decide that eating salty, greasy snacks is less important than a longer, healthier life.
© GlobalFit 2008
You should consult your physician before beginning any exercise or diet program. Wellness Notes articles are offered as introductions to basic concepts and are not comprehensive or necessarily applicable to a particular individual’s circumstances.
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