More and more studies highlight a link between sleep quality and cardiovascular risk. In the UK, recent work has explored the subject in a novel way. According to the results, going to bed between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. would be beneficial, especially for women.
Sleep is essential for our health and lack of it is bad in many ways. These include adverse effects on the brain, but also on the cardiovascular system . Lack of sleep induces a deterioration of the latter, which increases the risk of hypertension and stroke. Other effects such as an alteration of eating habits, but also a risk of depression or even premature aging are often mentioned.
Studies usually associating sleep quality with cardiovascular risk are overwhelmingly based on subjective measurements . Indeed, these are often logbooks and questionnaires based, among other things, on the memory of individuals. A study published by the University of Exeter (UK) on November 9, 2021 in the European Heart Journal, however, seems to stand out.
The aim of this work was to observe the correlation between bedtime and cardiovascular disease. The many participants in the study, namely 103,712, had to equip themselves with an accelerometer at their wrist. Remember in passing that the accelerometer is the device at the base of connected watches.
David Plans, the study's lead researcher, reminds us that our body has an internal 24-hour clock:the circadian rhythm. It helps regulate physical and mental functioning. The results of the study show that going to bed between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. limits the risk of developing heart disease compared to later or even earlier schedules. Moreover, this ideal bedtime would be even more beneficial for women . For researchers, going to bed earlier or later than this time increases the risk of disruption of the biological clock.
Scientists supplemented their observations with questionnaires for volunteers. The aim was to obtain information about their lifestyle, physical activity, general health, etc. The participants then benefited from a follow-up for six months . Researchers carefully observed their hearts, paying particular attention to strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, transient ischemic attacks, and chronic ischemic heart disease.
No less than 3,172 participants (3.6%) developed cardiovascular disease during the follow-up period. However, the incidence was higher in people who went to bed at midnight or later compared to those who went to bed between 10 and 11 p.m. The scientists obtained this result by analyzing the association between the onset of sleep and cardiovascular events while integrating other factors such as gender, sleep duration, diabetes, smoking, cholesterol level, BMI, blood pressure, etc.
