Sleep and Heart Health
Sleep plays a key role in nearly all aspects of physical health, including the health of the heart. This important organ powers our body’s circulatory system, ensuring enough oxygen gets transported to all the organs and tissues by pumping blood throughout the body.
As sleep provides an opportunity for the body to recharge and restore, it’s a modifiable behaviour that can be part of a lifestyle that promotes a healthy heart.
The link between sleep and heart health
Did you know that too little or too much sleep is associated with heart disease?
Studies support that individuals with insomnia sleeping less than 6 hours per night are at a 3x greater risk of developing hypertension. The mechanisms are not fully understood yet but there is a strong link between difficulty falling or staying asleep and the risk of developing heart failure. One reason for this association could be that sleeplessness triggers the body’s stress response, which over time can weaken the heart. Lack of sleep can also impair metabolism, cause inflammation and raise blood pressure.
On the flip side, getting more than 9 hours of sleep per night on a regular basis may indicate you have a health problem. Too much sleep raises the risk of chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, anxiety and obesity.
And sleep disorders and heart failure may have a bidirectional relationship. For example, if you have heart failure, you’re more likely to experience insomnia and individuals with insomnia have a 45% higher risk of developing CVD. Likewise, sleep issues such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can exacerbate heart failure, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and various arrhythmias. During apneic events, oxygen levels are decreased, leading to heart rhythm irregularities and stress on the heart. It’s a chicken and egg situation where it’s unclear what originates first but both cardiovascular disease and sleep apnea often co-exist in patients.
A modifiable risk factor
Apart from heart disease, poor sleep may put you at higher risk for:
Cognitive decline and dementia
Depression
High blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol
Obesity
While diet and nutrition have historically been seen as two robust risk factors to prevent cardiovascular events, it is now established that getting a good night’s sleep every night is just as important. In fact, in 2022, the American Heart Association added sleep to their cardiovascular health checklist (ie “Life’s Essential 8”), which outline eight key measures for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health.
Why Sleep for the Heart?
Quality sleep boosts the immune system and assists with the healing and repair of cells, tissues and blood vessels - all necessary processes to promote a healthy heart. During normal, healthy sleep, heart rate slows, blood pressure drops, and breathing stabilizes. These changes reduce stress on the heart, allowing it to recover from strain that occurs during waking hours and reducing the risk of heart attacks.
Moving forwards
The good news is now that we know that sleep irregularity in both duration and timing is a risk marker for poor cardiovascular health, there are a number of personalized interventions that can be implemented to improve sleep (duration, quality, timing, regularity) and stabilize circadian rhythms to reduce cardiometabolic risk and promote cardiovascular resilience.
If you do have heart issues, you may be able to relieve some of that cardiovascular strain by optimizing your sleep and addressing any sleep problems you are experiencing.
As heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, there’s a growing recognition of the importance of sleep for heart health and overall longevity.
How to optimize cardiovascular health through sleep:
Ensure you’re getting enough hours of sleep every night (that number will range between 7-9 hours, depending on the individual)
Go to bed and wake up around the same time each day
Get lots of bright, outdoor light during the day, especially first thing in the morning
Try and regulate the timing of your meals and don’t eat too close to bedtime
Find ways to relax both at night and during the day. Unaddressed stress or anxiety during the day can impact your nights. Mindfulness, meditation, light stretching or journaling can calm the mind and body
Move your body every day. Even a 15 min walk or a brief yoga practice is beneficial!
