Are the culprits like insomnia and sleep apnea causing you less sleep? If so, that may affect your health, especially your heart! There are so many factors such as a sentence in useless void and time-wasting – sleep is the proud owner of so many criticisms. The fact is you need sleep as much as you eat and breathe to own a healthy heart. While you are asleep, your body can take immense care of your physical and mental health.
When you sleep your hormone and insulin levels are regulated. In addition to that, your blood pressure will be under control. There are lots of things going on when you are asleep. But when you compromise on your sleep, it means you are just throwing these things in a beat.
Health Impact of poor sleep
Studies have found that sleeping less than six hours a night, every day greatly increases the risk of heart attack by 50% and stroke by 15%. Moreover, the people who sleep less tend to eat more and that results in obese. When you more likely gain weight it is obvious that you will become sleep deprived. This can lead to higher risk of chronic problems such as blood pressure and stroke.
We can’t ignore inflammation here. Our body responds to any injury through inflammation. Any infection or disease can be a reason for your lack of sleep that affects your cardiovascular system. In addition to this, poor sleep is also a major cause of producing stress hormones which will lead to heart diseases as well.
Much like the other health factors that cause disturbance to your quality sleep, poor heart health can possibly throw you into a vicious cycle. In the middle of the night, increased blood pressure can lead to chest pains or else abnormal heartbeats, which may lead you to sleep disruptions. Sleep disruptions may reduce the amount of your sleep and, in return, it may contribute to the highlighted heart problems.
Apart from the issues that are mentioned above there are some more major issues you may face if you ignore your sleeping cycle such as:
- Fluid buildup in the lungs that causes heart failure
- Arrhythmias, in other words, abnormal heart rhythm
This is relatively becoming a new area of the study finding how a lack of sleep affects heart health. But plenty of researchers has already proved that lack of sleep is also a reason for cardiovascular disease. It is really important to take an approach to this problem and make sure that you are getting the necessary sleep every night. If you have any issues with your sleep never hesitate to take some advice from your doctor.
The importance of sleep
Sleeplessness is a huge problem that needs to be addressed. It can affect so many functions within the body. Improving the quality of sleep is vital according to WHO – World health Organization. Let us now beware about some of the most prominent examples for what lack of quality sleep does to our health.
- Impaired brain activity, memory fog
- Depleted energy
- Weakened immune system
- Weight gain
- Increased risk of accidents
- Increased risk of diabetes
- Elevated blood pressure
Tips to Improve sleep:
It is important to get the best kind of sleep possible. There are so many factors that contribute to the health of your here. So many factors are pinpointed recently such as:
Stress Levels: It is one of the main causes of heart strokes. Seeking out for help in such condition is really important since it can prevent you from sleeping.
Avoid Junk food: How many of us know that junk food can be a cause of insomnia? In addition to that, it also adds bad cholesterol on your body. Avoid such food as much as possible and try to adapt organic and whole food.
Beware of your physical conditions: Some physical conditions such as joint ache, an overactive bladder or arthritis could also be the reasons for your sleeplessness. If this is the case, consult with your doctor and get some medicines that can help you sleeping.
Ask yourself these important questions in order to keep you updated about your heart health. Sleep is never a trivial issue. Heart disease is preventable but you have to take some effort to improve the quality of life if you want to stay out of any mess. Embrace a balanced diet along with physical exercise in order to bring out the healthy you!