Good sleep good for heart

Getting less than 7 hours of good quality sleep every night puts you at a higher risk for heart diseases. The study was published in the American Heart Association journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

A study by co-lead author Chan-Won Kim from Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea says, ‘Inadequate sleep is a common problem and a likely source of poor health, including visible signs of disease, such as heart attack.’

Around 47,000 young and middle-aged adults were studied for this research – the participants in the study completed a sleep questionnaire and had advanced tests to detect early coronary artery lesions and measure arterial stiffness.

The presence of calcium in the coronary arteries was an early sign of early coronary heart disease. Those who slept five or fewer hours a day had 50 percent more calcium in their coronary arteries than those who slept for seven hours. The finding also showed that those who slept nine or more hours a day had more than 70 percent more coronary calcium compared to those who sleep seven hours.

Adults who reported poor sleep quality had more than 20 percent more coronary calcium than those who reported good sleep quality.

‘We also observed a similar pattern when we measured arterial stiffness,’ said Yoosoo Chang, co-lead author of the study and associate professor at Kangbuk Samsun Hospital in South Korea.

‘Adults with poor sleep quality have stiffer arteries than those who sleep seven hours a day or had good sleep quality. Overall, we saw the lowest levels of vascular disease in adults sleeping seven hours a day and reporting good sleep quality,’ Chang noted.

Having good quality sleep for 7 hours daily is good for heart health