Maria Loreto
In partnership with The Fresh Toast
Results of a new study suggest that early or late bedtimes may be more likely to disrupt the body clock, with adverse consequences for cardiovascular health.
Your sleep habits affect a variety of aspects related to your health, including your heart. According to a new study, there’s actually a heart health sweet spot for your bedtime: between the hours of 10 p.m. 11 p.m.
The report, published this week in the European Heart Journal—Digital Health, analyzed over 88,000 adults for a period of six years, trying to get an understanding of the relationship between sleep and heart health. Researchers were able to access information about the subject’s lifestyle, demographics, physical activity, and health.
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After accounting for a variety of factors like lifestyle, stress, gender, and more, the study found that there was a 12% increase in heart disease amongst people who went to bed between the hours of 11 and 11:59 PM. This percentage increased to 25% when people went to bed past midnight. Women seemed to be affected more by these times when compared to men, experiencing higher risks.
Per NBC News, study co-author David Plans explained in a statement how circadian rhythms worked and why our bedtime could play an important part in our heart health. “While we cannot conclude causation from our study, the results suggest that early or late bedtimes may be more likely to disrupt the body clock, with adverse consequences for cardiovascular health,” he said.
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Heart disease is the leading cause of death for most people in America, thus a prominent concern for most of us. It’s influenced by internal factors like cholesterol levels and blood pressure, but also by outside forces, like smoking, and, apparently, your sleep habits.
While the results are not conclusive and don’t suggest that by sleeping in earlier you’ll be cutting your risk of heart disease, they do imply that there’s a connection between good sleep and heart health.
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