Heart Health

The Importance of Sleep for a Healthy Heart

Tired person driving - poor sleep quality can hurt your health
  • Do you find yourself waking up every morning in a fog?
  • Feeling the fast rhythm of your heartbeat, yet feeling as if you have no energy?
  • Have you ever had to drink more than one cup of coffee per day just to ensure that you stayed alert for work, or didn’t fall asleep at the wheel?

If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, it’s time to re-evaluate your sleeping patterns. When people are sleep deprived, they don’t understand the irrevocable damage that they are doing to their body.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that the average adult should receive about seven hours of sleep every night. Unfortunately, more than 1 in 3 American adults claim that they don’t receive the recommended amount¹. This news does not bode well for doctors who look to decrease the number of heart disease deaths that, unfortunately, continue to rise.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States with approximately 647,000 lives lost every year². While this is a devastating statistic, heart conditions can be combated with many simple life adjustments; one of them being sleep. Of course, this can’t be said without the “river of excuses” pouring in…

“I can’t sleep because I have children to take care of.”

“My job hours make it impossible for me to get enough sleep.”

“My favorite television show appears at 11:00p.m. and I just can’t miss it.”,

 or the classic “I don’t feel tired, so why should I go to sleep?”

Well, here’s the reason why… Obtaining the right amount of sleep every night can make a huge difference on the condition of one’s heart health and their risk of cardiovascular disease.

How Does Lack of Sleep Affect Your Heart?

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), studies show that “having a poor quality of sleep puts individuals at risk of high blood pressure³.” A 2011 case study from the European Heart Journal also discovered that out of 15 medical studies involving 475,000 individuals, short sleepers had a 48% increased risk of developing calcium deposits within the arteries, thus leading to coronary heart disease4. Dr. Gina Lundberg of Emory Women’s Heart Care Center also explained that people who are sleep deprived have slower metabolisms, making it more difficult to lose weight³ and cause obesity. Sleep deprivation can also increase insulin resistance, thus escalating the potential of developing Type 2 Diabetes. Lastly, a lack of sleep can greatly induce stress and anxiety which results in an increase of C-Reactive Proteins (CRP) being released. A high CRP raises the risk factors of one’s chances of developing cardiovascular disease. In general, the body needs the right amount of rest in order for it to function normally, maintain good health and ensure a happy heart.

How Can Sleep Help Your Heart?

What would happen to a brand new vehicle if we decided to put the key into the ignition, started the engine and never turned it off? What if we wanted to keep the motor running 24/7? What do you think would happen to that vehicle? One out of two things can happen. Either the car will eventually run out of fuel and die, or the oil will decrease, thus ruining the motor in the process and die. Unfortunately, the fate of the car does not bode well in either scenario.

Now think about what could happen to our bodies if we decided to keep it running 24/7. Most likely, we’d end up just like the vehicle. That’s why receiving enough sleep is critical to our cardiovascular system. When we go to sleep, our body is placed in a resting state and it is a critical time for it to recuperate. The brain should shut down and the heart should beat at a slower rate. Good-quality rest will decrease the amount of work that the heart does, which means that one’s blood pressure will decline along with it. Sleep can also bring down stress levels, and can assist in keeping an individual’s heart rate at a steady pace.

Sleep Conditions That Can Cause Cardiovascular Disease

In some circumstances, people wish that they could receive a good night’s rest but are unable to due to underlying conditions. If these conditions are not treated properly, this can graduate into other unrelated diseases that affect the heart. These ailments include:

  • Sleep Apnea a serious sleep disorder in which the airways repeatedly get blocked and breathing periodically stops and starts. Patients with this disorder often snore loudly or abruptly wake up gasping for air multiple times during the night. Sudden awakenings can often cause a sudden uptick in the heart rate and lead to irregular heartbeats. If this continues untreated, this can also affect how much oxygen the body receives, thus increasing the risks of high blood pressure, heart palpitations, stroke and a heart attack.
  • Insomnia One of the most common sleep conditions, this chronic disorder involves difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or both. Sometimes it can occur temporarily, but if not dealt with, it can grow into something more permanent or long-lasting. Insomnia can have drastic effects on heart health. Healthline reports that the AHA published a study claiming that “people with a genetic predisposition towards insomnia are at a higher risk of coronary artery disease, heart failure, and stroke”5.

Our Advice

Dr. David Minkoff of LifeWorks Wellness Center once stated, “If there is a holy grail of a ‘happy productive life’, it’s probably receiving quality sleep. If I can manage my sleep, I can manage about anything else that I have to do during the day.” For patients who have difficulty sleeping, Dr. Minkoff suggests turning off all of the lights and make sure the room is completely dark, remove all electronics from the room, provide a set bedtime, and before 9:00 pm, manage all activities. What this means is to refrain from discussing sensitive topics, turn off the music, and avoid sugary foods after 9:00 pm.

For those experiencing sleep difficulties, suffer from sleeping disorders or have symptoms of heart disease, please call to schedule an appointment at 727-466-6789.