A good snooze, regularly, can help the heart stay healthy

Cutting back on sodium and increasing physical activity are not the only ways to improve heart health - a good night's sleep can also help promote cardiovascular health. One expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham says not getting enough sleep can have harmful heart-health effects. The ideal amount of sleep is between six to eight hours, said cardiologist Alan S. Gertler, M.D., associate professor of medicine in UAB's Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and part of UAB's Heart & Vascular Services. "Deep, high-quality sleep is needed to lower heart rate and blood pressure, which reduce stress on the heart," Gertler explained. Heart rate and blood pressure also rise and fall during rapid eye movement (REM) in response to dreams. According to the National Institutes of Health, those variable rates also contribute to making the heart healthier. "Without enough sleep, there is an increase in blood pressure and stress hormones, lower glucose tolerance and weight gain," Gertler said. "All of these factors can increase the risk of coronary artery disease."

Both too little and too much sleep bad for the heart: study

When it comes to what's best for their hearts, people walk a fine line between getting too much and too little sleep, a new study suggests. Adults who get fewer than six hours or more than eight hours of sleep a night are at greater risk for a variety of heart conditions, according to research led by Dr. Rohit Arora, chairman of cardiology at the Chicago Medical School. Sleeping too little puts people at significantly higher risk of stroke, heart attack and congestive heart failure, the researchers found. On the other hand, people who sleep too much have a higher prevalence of chest pain (angina) and coronary artery disease, a narrowing of the blood vessels that supply the heart with blood and oxygen. The findings are scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Chicago

Bad sleep ups blood pressure risk

Elderly men who spend little time in deep sleep could be at risk of developing high blood pressure, according to US scientists. A study on 784 patients, in the journal Hypertension, showed those getting the least deep sleep were at 83% greater risk than those getting the most. Researchers say they would expect a similar effect in women. The British Heart Foundation said it was important for everyone to prioritise sleep. High blood pressure - also known as hypertension - increases the risk of heart attack, stroke and other health problems. Researchers measured the "sleep quality" of 784 men over the age of 65 between 2007 and 2009. At the start none had hypertension, while 243 had the condition by the end of the study

Warwick scientists say lack of sleep 'bad for health' (UK)

"The risk of developing heart disease can increase by as much as 48% if a person does not get enough sleep, University of Warwick scientists say. A long period of sleep shortage increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes, according to scientists. They found most people need between six and eight hours of sleep a night to protect their health. Professor Cappuccio and co-author Dr Michelle Miller, from the University of Warwick, conducted the research. They said they followed up evidence from periods of seven to 25 years from more than 470,000 participants from eight countries including Japan, the USA, Sweden and the UK"

Snoring, sleep problems may signal heart risk

"People who snore loudly, have difficulty falling asleep, or often wake up feeling tired may have more to worry about than dozing off at work. A new study suggests they may also be at increased risk of developing heart disease and other health problems down the road. In the study, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh asked more than 800 people between the ages of 45 and 74 about the quality of their sleep. Three years later, the people who reported snoring loudly were more than twice as likely as quiet sleepers to have metabolic syndrome - a cluster of risk factors for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke that includes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, low "good" cholesterol, high triglycerides, and excess belly fat. People who had trouble falling asleep or who woke up feeling unrefreshed at least three times per week were about 80 percent and 70 percent more likely than their peers, respectively, to develop three or more of those risk factors, the study found. (A person must have three of the five risk factors to get a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.)"

Sleep hours could cause heart disease

The amount of sleep a person gets could increase risk for heart disease, a recent study by a West Virginia University professor found. Anoop Shankar, associate professor in the Department of Community Medicine, examined 30,397 adults who participated in the 2005 National Health Interview Survey to see if there was a correlation between sleeping habits and heart disease. His study, published in the August journal issue of SLEEP, found sleeping fewer than five hours a night or more than nine hours a night could increase the risk of heart disease. "We asked a question: On an average how many hours did you sleep in 24-hour period?," Shankar said. "The adults answered that question and we then did a diagnostic on heart disease." They examined this association between heart disease and sleep to establish the percentage of people with heart disease and all cardiovascular diseases, such as angina, coronary heart disease, heart attack or stroke, he said.

Sleeping with your partner can be bad for your health - and your relationship, scientists have warned (UK)

Researchers found that sharing a bed often led to poor quality sleep because people were regularly disturbed by their loved ones during the night. They found that on average couples suffered up to 50 per cent more disturbances when sleeping with their partners than they did on their own. This often led to 'tension' in the relationship as well as health problems associated with lack of sleep, including heart disease and depression. Yet despite the detrimental effects of snoring, teeth grinding and tossing and turning, people tolerated it because culturally sleeping together is considered a sign of intimacy. To sleep separately is considered 'culturally wrong'. The scientists, speaking at a special seminar on sleep at the British Science Festival, said the answer was to speak to your partner before it led to poor health or divorce - Telegraph

A good night's sleep may be heart healthy

Research published from the Whitehall II study group, which is part-funded by the British Heart Foundation, finds that women who have fewer hours of sleep tend to have higher levels of circulating chemicals that indicate general inflammation. In response, June Davison, cardiac nurse at the BHF said: "This study found that women - but not men - who sleep less tend to have indicators of increased inflammation, measured by testing for two chemical 'markers' in the blood. "It is thought that inflammation in our body is related to heart and circulatory disease. "Previous research suggests that a good night's sleep may help to keep our heart and circulation healthy, and this study could point to an underlying reason behind that finding. "We should all try to get enough sleep - as it's likely to be good for heart health as well as overall health." For more information please call the BHF press office on 020 7554 0164 or 07764 290 381 (out of office hours) or email newsdesk@bhf.org.uk

Statement issued in response to: Sex Differences in the Cross-Sectional Relationships Between Sleep Duration and Markers of Inflammation: Whitehall II Study. Michelle A. Miller SLEEP 2009;32(7)

Lacking sleep boosts risk of high blood pressure, study finds

Sleeping less than seven or eight hours a night as a routine puts people at risk for high blood pressure, a study found. The less the adults participating in the research slept, the more likely they were to see their blood pressure rise, according to research published in Archives of Internal Medicine. For every hour of missed sleep, odds of developing the condition rose an average 37 percent over five years, said Kristen Knutson, the lead author. Skipping two hours sleep raised the blood pressure risk 86 percent - Bloomberg

Overweight people more active than skinny (USA)

A study of sleep and activity found overweight people tended to sleep less and be more active than their skinnier counterparts, researchers found. As part of the Integrative Cardiac Health Project at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the researchers analyzed the sleep and activity levels of 14 nurses. Dr. Arn Eliasson, the lead investigator, said each participant wore an actigraphy armband that measured total activity, body temperature, body position, and other indices of activity and rest. "When we analyzed our data by splitting our subjects into 'short sleepers' and 'long sleepers,' we found that short sleepers tended to have a higher body mass index of 28.3, compared to long sleepers, who had an average BMI of 24.5. Short sleepers also had greater difficulty getting to sleep and staying asleep"

Insomnia raises risk of high blood pressure

"Insomniacs who sleep less than five hours a night are five times more likely to develop high blood pressure than sound sleepers who get enough rest, a new study shows. The link between another sleep disorder, sleep apnea, and hypertension is well established. But the newly published study is one of the first to find that insomnia also raises the risk for high blood pressure. Researchers estimate that 8% to 10% of the U.S. population may be at risk for high blood pressure related to chronic insomnia. "We have known for many years that insomniacs have a high risk for depression and other psychiatric disorders," study researcher Alexandros N. Vgontzas, MD, tells WebMD. "Now we are increasingly recognizing the association with medical morbidities like high blood pressure." Vgontzas, who directs the Sleep Research and Treatment Center at the Penn State College of Medicine, says the major strength of the new study is that it included both subjective and objective measures of insomnia" - webMD

Late bedtimes linked to heart disease

"Burning the midnight oil may be hazardous to your health. Men who go to bed after midnight have significantly more arterial stiffening - an early stage of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries - than men who turn in earlier, a new study shows. Several large studies have linked chronic sleep loss to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other health problems, says Yu Misao, MD, of the Misao Health Clinic in Gifu, Japan. But whether bedtimes also have an influence on heart health has not been explored, he tells WebMD." - WebMD

Daytime sleepiness provides red flag for cardiovascular disease

Clinicians should be alert to patients reporting "excessive" day time sleepiness (EDS), says the European Society of Cardiology, after a French study found healthy elderly people who regularly report feeling sleepy during the day have a significantly higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. The Three City study, published in Stroke, by the American Heart Association (Thursday, February 26), found that elderly people who reported excessive day time sleepiness have a 49 % relative risk increase of cardiovascular death (from cerebrovascular disease, myocardial infarction and heart failure) , compared to those who do not report sleepiness. "Based on this study asking patients the simple question of whether they feel sleepy during the day, is a useful way of identifying a subgroup of elderly patients at higher risk of cardiovascular disease who require a more thorough follow up," said Professor Guy DeBacker, from the Division of Cardiology at the University of Gent, Belgium, and former chair of the European Society of Cardiology Joint Prevention Committee. Professor Torben Jorgensen, from the Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Glostrup, Denmark, commented: "The study offers the opportunity to practice prevention by investigating the underlying causes of patient's sleep problems, and then introducing lifestyle changes with the intention of preventing later cardiovascular complications." - EurekAlert

Women: good night's sleep good for your heart health

"Getting a good night's rest may help women minimize their risk of developing heart disease, say physicians at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "Research has shown a link between sleep disturbances and the risk of developing heart disease," said Dr. Bhuvana Muthuswamy, assistant professor of medicine at BCM. "Chronic sleep deprivation increases severity of hypertension, diabetes and memory loss. Sleep-disordered breathing like obstructive sleep apnea (when a person snores and stops breathing several times a night), increases risk of hypertension, heart attacks and congestive heart failure." Women need about eight hours of sleep a night, said Muthuswamy, although some may require more or less, depending on the individual." - redOrbit

Longer sleep tied to worse cholesterol in seniors

"Older people who spend more time sleeping have higher cholesterol levels, and less "good" HDL cholesterol, Dutch researchers report. People who sleep fewer than seven hours a night, as well as those who log more than eight hours may be more likely to develop heart disease, although it's not clear why, Dr. Julia F. van den Berg of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam and colleagues note in the medical journal Psychosomatic Medicine. To investigate whether cholesterol might be a factor, van den Berg and her team compared sleep duration and total cholesterol levels, as well as the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol, in 768 men and women 57 to 97 years old." - Reuters

Sleep good for arteries

A good night's sleep may be just what your arteries need. So finds a new five-year study in which middle-aged people who had an extra hour of sleep each night were less likely to have artery-stiffening calcium deposits. But the study results shouldn't send people off to bed prematurely or have them popping sleeping pills, cautioned Diane Lauderdale, associate professor of health studies at the University of Chicago Medical Centre, who led the study. "We don't know why there is an association," Lauderdale said. "And until we know why, we can't tell whether it is a causal association." The report was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. - Health24

Sleep duration and cardiac death link seen in study

"A U.S. team provides more evidence that sleeping too little - or too much - may be bad for your heart. The investigators also noted that diabetes and hypertension may contribute to this relationship. Among 58,044 men and women 45 years of age or older without heart disease at study entry, those who slept 5 hours or less or 9 hours or more, were significantly more likely to die from cardiovascular disease over the next several years than people who logged 7 hours a night, Dr. Anoop Shankar of the West Virginia School of Medicine in Morgantown and colleagues found. These findings back the results of other studies that have suggested how long people sleep may be a key predictor of their heart disease risk, Shankar and his team report in the American Journal of Epidemiology" - Reuters

Why an afternoon rest protects your heart

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Less sleep can up heart disease risk

"Sleeping less than seven and a half hours per day can raise your chances of developing a heart disease, according to a new study. The study has been published in the November 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, a combination of little sleep and overnight-elevated blood pressure appears to be associated with an increased risk of the disease" - Times of India

Naps good for the heart

"If you enjoy naps, here's another reason to take them. A large study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Athens Medical School in Greece suggests that taking naps is actually good for your heart. Siestas (defined by the researchers as midday naps longer than 30 minutes, more than three times a week) are common in Mediterranean and Latin American countries – where rates of heart disease are also lower" - Bell Canada