![\"Estimated](\"https:\/\/www.prevention.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/fre\/static\/icons\/clock-regular.4ddebeb.svg\")
3 min read![\"Caret](\"https:\/\/www.prevention.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/fre\/static\/icons\/caret-right-regular.a6ec664.svg\"){kind=icon}
Preventing heart disease takes a multi-faceted approach.Perhaps lesser discussed than diet and exercise as interventions is getting proper sleep.A new study looks at how a person\u2019s bedtime impacts their heart disease risk. Experts weigh in.<\/p>\n
You probably know that a heart-healthy diet<\/a> and regular exercise can make big strides in lowering heart disease risk<\/a>. What may be lesser considered as a channel to heart health is sleep. And it\u2019s not just getting it that matters\u2014the time one falls asleep appears to play a part in how well a person\u2019s heart works, or doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Meet the Experts: John La Puma, M.D<\/a>., board-certified internist and sleep specialist; and Srihari Naidu, M.D.<\/a>, cardiologist and professor of medicine at New York Medical College.<\/p>\n A new study published in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders<\/a> looked at how bedtime inconsistency impacted middle aged peoples\u2019 risk of experiencing a heart attack, stroke, heart failure, or cardiovascular-related death over a 10 year period compared to those who went to bed at roughly the same time nightly. The findings were alarming, and not the kind you can snooze. Below, doctors weigh in on the findings.<\/p>\n What did the study find?<\/p>\n Researchers followed 3,231 Finnish adults, all born in 1966, each of whom wore a research-grade wrist sleep monitor for seven days that tracked when they fell asleep, when they woke, and the midpoint of their sleep period. After 10 years, researchers cross referenced participant data with Finland\u2019s national health registry for heart attacks, strokes, heart failure hospitalizations, and cardiovascular deaths.<\/p>\n With that data, researchers organized participants into three groups: those who had a regular bedtime, those who had a fairly regular bedtime (meaning, they fell asleep within an hour of the same time nightly), and those who had an irregular bedtime (meaning, they fell asleep within nearly two hours of the same time nightly). Even after researchers controlled for standard age and sex-related cardiac risk factors, those with irregular bedtimes showed a doubled risk of heart disease compared to their counterparts.<\/p>\n Surprisingly, this risk was predicted only by irregular bedtimes\u2014irregular wakeup times didn\u2019t have the same effect. \u201cAnd the risk was concentrated in people sleeping under eight hours, suggesting that short sleepers with erratic bedtimes get hit twice,\u201d explains John La Puma, M.D<\/a>., board-certified internist and sleep specialist.<\/p>\n Why is bedtime consistency important\u2014for heart health and overall wellness?<\/p>\n These finding indicates that not only sleep length and quality, but sleep time matters for heart health. Why? \u201cYour body\u2019s master clock is a cluster of about 20,000 nerve cells in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus<\/a>,\u201d says Dr. La Puma. \u201cIt orchestrates a nightly sequence of repair events timed to when you fall asleep. Blood pressure dips. Cortisol clears. Heart rate slows. Blood vessels repair. When your bedtime jumps around by an hour or two from night to night, you’re giving your heart jet lag.\u201d<\/p>\n When you think about it that way, it makes sense. Also, if you struggle to fall asleep at consistent times due to stress, for example, you may build up more total body inflammation over time, which contributes to heart disease risk\u2014specifically, it may tick up factors like hypertension and obesity, adds Srihari Naidu, M.D.<\/a>, cardiologist and professor of medicine at New York Medical College.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that the American Heart Association recently added sleep<\/a> regularity to its list of essential components for heart health, alongside diet, exercise, and not smoking, says Dr. La Puma.<\/p>\n The bottom line<\/p>\n The main takeaway here is that a bedtime and general sleep hygiene<\/a> is important\u2014even sacred. \u201cBuild a bedtime routine and protect it,\u201d says Dr. La Puma. \u201cI recommend a wind down ritual an hour before you want to be asleep. That includes dimming the lights, not having a blue light screens, and a cup of chamomile tea or an analog book or soft music.\u201d<\/p>\n