How Long Should I Sleep for My Heart Health?

We live in a world that constantly watches each step, running at a constant pace without taking a break. The evolution of technology reached its heights, and the need for survival is making everyone work tirelessly throughout the clock. Especially, people from this generation seem to have a different lifestyle compared to the older ones. Late-night working hours, constant change in food habits, eating un-timely, and unusual sleeping patterns altogether mess up the lifestyle and end up either in depression or stress which eventually leads to early heart diseases.

With complicated life, we pay less attention to quintessential sleep and consider it can be compromised when we are faced with choices of work and career growth.

How many hours of sleep does a heart patient require?

There is a vast difference between the amount of sleep necessary for optimum functioning and the amount of sleep you can get by. Based on the article released by the National Institute of Health, an adult sleeps less than seven hours per night. In today’s world, six or seven hours of sleep may sound safe. But without enough sleep, the risk of getting a heart attack and heart disease goes up. This is irrelevant to your age, weight, or how much you exercise.

On the other hand, people who have a history of heart disease or stroke might tend to sleep lesser than usual, mainly due to sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is when the airflow collapsed temporarily during sleep by depriving the body of oxygen. This condition is usually seen in heart patients. For them, more than eight hours of sleep is mandatory to keep themselves safe from any severe attack or heart failure.

Sleep requirements may differ slightly from person to person. To make the heart function at its best, most healthy adults require between seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Without a bare minimum of sleeping hours, even those who seem healthy might tend to get heart diseases at a higher rate.

The sleep conditions that can affect the heart’s health

It’s almost been several months since we have been in lockdown inside our house due to the pandemic. Many surveys state that it has created a significant impact on people mentally due to chronic depression. This has a direct effect on the sleeping pattern of the people. There were revelations from the sleep experts that anxiety and messed up sleep patterns have become common occurrences. Many complain about a lack of sleep even though they tend to choose some alternatives over their routine. Below stated are a few adverse effects:

Sleep Apnea- It happens when your airway gets blocked during your sleep continuously, causing you to stop breathing for short intervals of time. This condition may occur due to some health issues like obesity and heart attacks.
Insomnia- It is a condition where you would experience a lack of sleep or trouble falling asleep. One out of two adults generally experience short-term insomnia, and one in ten might have a long-lasting insomnia condition. It is directly related to high blood pressure and heart diseases. Over a while, lack of sleep might lead to an unhealthy routine that hurts your heart by increasing the stress level, very less motivation to be physically active and unhealthy food choices.

Why sleep is essential during a pandemic

Sleep is a critical aspect of our life. And during the pandemic, sleep becomes even more critical due to its wide range of benefits. Check the list given below:

Sleep stimulates an efficient immune system. Taking a complete rest at night strengthens our immune system, and studies found that the lack of sleep can make medicines less effective.
Sleep stimulates brain functions – Our mind works better when it gets a good rest, leading to its contribution of complex thinking, strategies, learning, memory, and even for decision making.
Sleep enhances the mood and keeps the mood swings in control– Lack of sleep can make a person more irritable, bring down their energy, and even worsen depression.
Sleeping improves physical and mental health- The first functionality that would get affected due to lack of sleep is Heart. Lack of sleep brings down the heart’s health, and the blood that gets pumped inside and outside the heart would become too slow. Lack of sleep also leads to bipolar disorder, anxiety, and PTSD.

Guidelines to follow to get better sleep

Despite the daunting experiences that we are facing now, there are a handful of steps that helps to promote better sleep not only during this pandemic but also on regular days. These steps will especially help to keep the heart function properly, protecting it from any disorders.

Set your Routine and schedule it accordingly. Schedule your daily work in such a way that you wrap it without carrying any load on the top of your head before going to sleep. Waking up Time- Set your alarm and set a fixed time to get up and make it a routine. Winding Down Time- This is a crucial aspect that stresses time to relax and get ready for bedtime. It involves light meditating, reading, or listening to music, etc. Going down for sleep-Have a consistent time to put off the lights and hitting the bed.

Getting Natural Light- Exposure to natural light helps our body to regulate sleep healthily. Even if the sun isn’t shining, it is enough to get the natural light since it stimulates the body fluids. It is especially good to keep the heart’s beat at a good pace. It is better to avoid using mobile phones for one hour before bedtime. The blue light emitted from the devices makes our brain sluggish and doesn’t aid in sleeping.

Watch out for what you drink and eat- During situations like a pandemic, we might not get a chance to do vigorous workouts or hit the gym. Hence it is essential to keep a watch on what we eat. It is better to avoid binge eating, consuming alcohol, or caffeine since it can disrupt sleep quality at night.

Apart from these, a regular walk inside the home would keep up the heart rate at a good pace and to keep the body healthy. Make sure to take a break from your hectic work schedule and spend some time with the family to calm down your nerves and beat the stress—this aid in a sound sleep. Talk with people more often. The technology revolves around everybody’s hand in the form of Mobile phone, make regular contact with your friends and family through a video call, and understand what they are going through.

As the Greek proverb goes, “A Sound Mind is in a Sound Body.” Mental and physical health goes hand in hand during all the situations. It is essential to make sure we get enough sleep to keep ourselves hale and healthy. If anxiety and depression increase, it affects your sleeping pattern, and a small change in the sleeping pattern would affect the body as a whole. Hence it is good not to get stressed out or keep things on to your head and carry it over till the day end.