Sleep well, for a healthy heart

Having a good night’s sleep is the least that one would think of when it comes to taking good care of the heart. Many are aware that sleeplessness can hamper productivity and can affect a persons’ day-to-day routine. But what’s not known is that the consequence doesn’t end here.

Eight hours of continuous sleep would keep our health on track. While sleep quantity is one factor, sleep quality is something that should be considered.

Many pieces of research have linked sleep quality to a healthy heart. People who don’t get enough sleep are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease, regardless of age, weight, smoking and exercise habits. Getting adequate sleep is important if you want to lower your risk of heart conditions.

Physical disturbances, medical issues, psychiatric disorders and environmental issues cause sleep deprivation.

Acute insomnia is triggered because of common issues like loss of job, death of a loved one, or environmental factor which lasts for days or weeks. Depression, chronic stress, pain or discomfort at night also can cause chronic insomnia.

Circadian rhythm

Circadian rhythm is a major rhythm in the body which induces sleep. As the night sets in, the brain is signalled by nature that it’s time to rest. Usage of LED gadgets like mobiles or laptop, especially at night, makes the brain confuse the LED rays with sunlight and the circadian rhythm fails to set in. This also causes sleep-related diseases.

Sleep apnea is a condition which indicates disturbed sleep pattern because of breathing issues. In this, the air stops flowing to the lungs for 10 seconds, causing the blood oxygen level to drop. This can be problematic to the heart in the long run.

Adolescents and sleep

Inadequate amount of sleep among adolescents brings in cardiovascular problems. They are likely to have higher cholesterol levels, a higher body mass index, larger waist sizes, higher blood pressure, and an increased risk of hypertension.

They are also introduced to some of the ill-effects like a lower cognitive process which can later have a negative effect on the heart, leading to problems like heart attack, heart failure, irregular heartbeats, high blood pressure, diabetes, and even stroke.

Effect on adults

It is mandatory for adults to get proper sleep and rest for at least seven hours. To be more specific, a person can suffer from different types of diseases like coronary heart disease, heart attack, congestive heart failure, and congenital heart disease.

If you aren’t getting enough sleep, try these: Avoid using gizmos at least two hours before the sleep, and make the room dark enough, and use eye sleep masks if necessary.

You might struggle for a month, after which the body’s biochemistry will bring the circadian rhythm back.

In order to avoid heart complications in our life, it is mandatory that we focus on some of the practices like physical exercise, controlled food habits and adequate sleep of seven to eight hours, to follow a healthy lifestyle with minimum complications.

To sum it up, every hour of sleep is important as a single penny we earn to save our valuable heartbeats.

(The writer is Chief Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon and Chairman, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Fortis Hospitals, Bengaluru)