There’s an ideal amount of sleep if you’re looking to reduce your risk of a heart attack, regardless of other heart risk factors.
Sleep and heart attacks
A team of researchers from the United States and the UK recently looked at data from the UK biobank that included:
- self-reporting on how much the person slept each night
- health records for seven years
- results of genetics tests
The scientists found that:
- People who slept fewer than 6 hours per night had a 20% greater risk of a first heart attack (compared to people who slept 6-9 hours).
- People who slept more than 9 hours had a 34% greater risk of a first heart attack.
- People with a high genetic liability for developing heart disease who slept 6-9 hours per night reduced the risk of having an initial heart attack by 18%.
The risk for heart attack was even greater when the person’s sleep diverged greatly from the recommended 6 to 9 hours. For example:
- People who only got 5 hours of sleep had a 52% greater risk of a first heart attack.
- People who got more than 10 hours of sleep per night doubled their risk.
These results were found even after removing 30 factors that could potentially affect sleep and heart health, including things like income, education, smoking, mental health, body composition, and physical activity. This helped show that sleep duration is an independent risk factor for a heart attack.
Tips for getting enough sleep
If you’re among the 1 in 3 Americans who don’t get at least 7 hours of sleep each night, consider these tips:
- Go to sleep and get out of bed at the same time every day, including weekends.
- Exercise regularly, but not right before bed.
- Get natural light during the day and make your room dark for sleep.
- Don’t eat or drink right before bed. This is especially true of foods high in sugar or fat, as well as alcohol.
