New Delhi: Did you know that proper sleep is an essential ingredient for ideal heart and brain health? Studies have found that inadequate or irregular sleep cycles can lead to heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), the leading cause of death globally. Experts recommend that adults get at least seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night. Emphasizing the issue, the American Heart Association (AHA), earlier this week, added sleep duration to its cardiovascular health score – known as the 8 essentials of life – diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, weight, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure. Included. .Also read – Heart Attack vs. Cardiac Arrest: Differences, Symptoms and Prevention – What You Need to Know
Sleep helps support important aspects of our metabolism, such as healthy brain function and controlling appetite and blood sugar. An estimated 17.9 million people died from CVD in 2019, representing 32 percent of all global deaths. According to the World Health Organization, 85 percent of these deaths are due to heart attacks and strokes. More than three-quarters of CVD deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Also read – Ground breaking treatment for heart disease: Cells killed by heart attack can be regenerated with hormones
Various research studies over the past two decades have shown that more than 80 percent of all cardiovascular events can be prevented by a healthy lifestyle and the management of known cardiovascular risk factors. Also read – Alarming! Studies show that longer working hours can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by 50%, explained – watch video
What do AHA doctors say about the effect of sleep on heart health?
“The new metric of sleep duration reflects the latest research findings: sleep affects overall health, and those who have a healthy sleep pattern more effectively manage health factors such as weight, blood pressure or risk for type 2 diabetes,” Donald said. like this. Lloyd said. Jones, President at AHA.
“Furthermore, advances in ways to measure sleep, such as with wearable devices, now give people the ability to reliably and regularly monitor their sleep habits at home,” added Lloyd-Jones, who is also a professor of heart research at Northwestern University. Feinberg School of Medicine.
According to the AHA president, the idea of optimal cardiovascular health is important because it gives people positive goals to work on at any stage of life. Each component of Life Essential 8, which is evaluated by the My Life check tool, has an updated scoring system from 0 to 100 points. The overall cardiovascular health score from 0 to 100 points is the average of the scores for each of the 8 health criteria.
Overall scores below 50 indicate “poor” cardiovascular health, and 50-79 are considered “moderate” cardiovascular health. Scores of 80 and above indicate “high” cardiovascular health, according to advice published in the Circulation Journal.
“Life Essential 8 is a big step forward in our ability to recognize when cardiovascular health can be preserved and when it is sub-optimal. It should stimulate efforts to improve cardiovascular health for all people and at every stage of life, ”Lloyd-Jones said.
