The ideal length of sleep during the night is six to eight hours, shows an analysis of studies involving over a million adults. Sleeping shorter or longer is associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Team from the Center of Heart Surgery Onassis in Athens analyzed 11 studies published over a period of 5 years, involving over a million adults without cardiovascular disease. The aim of the project was to test the relationship between sleep duration and cardiovascular health.
The researchers presented their results during the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology.
‘We spend a third of our lives sleeping, but we know little about the impact of this biological need on the cardiovascular system,’ says the author of the study, Dr Epameinondas Fountas.
The researchers compared three groups of people – less than 6 hours of sleep during the night, 6 to 8 hours of sleep, and more than 8 hours of sleep.
It turned out that when it comes to sleep duration, the golden mean is the best. People who spend less than 6 hours of sleep were 11 percent. more at risk of cardiovascular diseasethan the group sleeping 6 to 8 hours. On the other hand, sleeping longer than 8 hours was associated with a risk of as much as 33%. more than 6-8 hours sleep.
– Our results show that too much or too little sleep is bad for the heart. More research is needed to explain why this happens, but we know that sleep affects biological processes such as glucose metabolism, blood pressure and inflammation – all of which contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease, says Dr. Fountas.
– A one-off shortened night or longer sleep is unlikely to adversely affect health, but there is growing evidence that it is important to avoid persistent sleep deprivation and excess sleep – adds the researcher.
Scientists propose simple ways to deal with this. Going to sleep and getting up at regular times, avoiding alcohol and caffeine in the evening, a healthy diet and physical activity helps.
During the day, let’s work for a good, not necessarily long, but not too short, sleep. And don’t worry if we get a little longer sleep sometimes. Because it doesn’t have to mean illness.