Tom Whipple Science Editor
The Times
Gerry Gajadharsingh writes:
“I have written on the importance of trying to achieve a “good night’s sleep” before, but thought I’d add to the evidence of how important adequate sleep is.
The study below looked at almost 400,000 middle aged people from the UK Biobank and found that those with the healthiest sleeping patterns had fewer heart-related conditions, “more than a tenth of all heart disease and strokes would not have occurred if all the participants had had a healthy sleep score”, even in those genetically prone to cardiovascular problems. Interesting in those people whose genes gave them the most protection lost that protection if they slept badly, this time nurture beats nature!
It may be the case that people who have bad hearts also sleep badly. However, the findings add to evidence placing good sleep on a par with diet and exercise as a way of maintaining health.”
There are several causes of sleep disturbance, but simple suggestions such as relaxed breathing can help calm the mind before sleep.
https://www.thehealthequation.co.uk/breathing-re-education/
You might also like to know that I am in the process of developing a Relax/Sleep drink, Gerry’s Tonic Relax, containing cutting edge nutritionals, we should be launching in May 2020, watch this space!”
A good night’s sleep can stave off heart attacks and strokes, one of the largest studies of its kind has suggested.
Research into almost 400,000 middle-aged Britons found that those with the healthiest sleeping patterns had fewer heart-related conditions.
Compared with those who had the worst sleep, people who regularly got seven or eight hours were a third less likely to have cardiovascular problems.
Lu Qi, from Tulane University in the US, said that if sleep were the reason behind the link, “more than a tenth of all heart disease and strokes would not have occurred if all the participants had had a healthy sleep score”.
The researchers relied on the UK Biobank, a huge database of genetic and health information. After following 385,000 people for eight years, they recorded 7,280 cases of heart attack or stroke. Professor Qi used health questions to produce a “sleep score”, which took into account insomnia and snoring as well as hours asleep.
The study, in the European Heart Journal, showed that the apparently protective effects of good sleep were there even in those genetically prone to cardiovascular problems. There was an important corollary: people whose genes gave them the most protection lost that protection if they slept badly.
It may be the case that people who have bad hearts also sleep badly. However, the findings add to evidence placing good sleep on a par with diet and exercise as a way of maintaining health.
Jeremy Pearson, of the British Heart Foundation, said that whatever the truth adults should aim for seven to nine hours. “Everyone needs a chance to recharge their batteries,” he said. Identifying an association could help doctors to tell which patients should be watched more closely for heart problems, he said.