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    • Providing Health and Well Being Through Proper Sleep Will Change Your Life
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    Heart Disease and Your Sleep Health

    Sleep is essential in keeping our bodies and our minds healthy. You know how differently you can feel when you do not get enough rest. What many people may not realize is that it is actually important as well for keeping our heart healthy. Your risk for coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease increase when you do not get enough sleep.

    The risk still increases even if you are at a healthy weight and are younger. It still goes up even if you exercise and do not smoke. This revelation can be scary because the risk goes up by simply not getting enough sleep.

    How Sleep Affects Your Heart

    There are a few ways sleep affects your heart:

    • Sleep apnea can cause problems

      Many times people who have sleep apnea often have compromised heart health. Sleep apnea causes people to wake frequently throughout the night. Because of this, these patients are not able to have long and deep periods of rest. Your blood pressure and heart rate remain higher than they should be at night. This shift can also cause higher blood pressure while awake and may lead to heart problems. The relationship between sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease has been studied. An eight-year study of men with severe sleep apnea supported this connection. It was found that they were 58 percent more likely to have congestive heart failure.

    • Poor sleeping puts you at greater risk

      Whether you have a severe sleep disorder or not, lack of sleep can still put your heart at risk. You may have problems sleeping because of stress, a new schedule or poor sleeping habits. It is important to address these to make sure you get enough sleep.

    Sleep is Important for Your Heart Regardless of Your Age

    Even if you are young, you need to get enough sleep to keep your heart healthy. Adolescents could even have problems:

    • Risk increases

      Not getting enough sleep can take its toll on adolescents as well. In one study, these kids who did not sleep well, had an increased risk of developing cardiovascular problems.

    • Unhealthy in multiple areas

      In the same study, they also had an increased risk of hypertension due to lack of sleep. A higher body mass index and higher levels of cholesterol were also reported. These results are great indicators of the necessity of everyone to get adequate sleep.

    It is important to address and get any sleep problems diagnosed. Set up a Sleep Consultation today.

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