Frankfurt am Main – Healthy sleep acts like a medicine: During the night’s rest, the body recovers, metabolic processes such as fat and sugar metabolism are regulated, the immune system is strengthened and cellular repair processes are initiated. Blood pressure is also kept constant over the long term during the night’s sleep. Conversely, a lack of sleep has serious consequences for the body – especially for the heart: “Anyone who sleeps too little or poorly over a long period of time increases their risk of cardiovascular disease or can accelerate existing diseases such as coronary heart disease or metabolic syndrome,” warns the heart specialist Prof. Dr. medical dr phil. Anil-Martin Sinha from the Scientific Advisory Board of the German Heart Foundation in the current Heart Foundation podcast of the imPULS series www.herzstiftung.de/podcast-schlaf
How much sleep is healthy, what constitutes “healthy” sleep and what effects do sleep-related breathing disorders such as sleep apnea have on the heart and circulatory system? The chief physician of the department for cardiology, nephrology, pneumology and internal intensive care medicine at the Sana Klinikum Hof answers these and many other questions in the current Heart Foundation podcast.
Permanent lack of sleep: Why is it harmful to the heart and blood vessels?
When we sleep, the brain is highly active. The memory is formed and strengthened during the various phases of sleep and a large part of the information that was recorded during the day is deleted again during sleep. “There is a close connection between the performance of the brain and the quality of sleep,” says Prof. Sinha. Restful sleep is important not only for mental regeneration, but also for physical regeneration. Because while we sleep, metabolic processes such as fat and sugar metabolism are regulated in such a way that the body can process everything it has consumed during the day. In addition, hormones are regulated so that they are available at the right time of day, such as the stress hormone cortisol or the sleep hormone melatonin. Conversely, consistently poor sleep means stress. “The body is active and is forced, for example, to maintain its stress hormones, which would otherwise be reduced,” explains the cardiologist: “But stress triggers a pulse that is too fast and blood pressure that is too high. By the time the patient notices, however, it is usually too late because you don’t feel high blood pressure at first.” In addition, the disrupted metabolic processes act “like a fire accelerator” on the metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by massive obesity, increased blood sugar and lipid metabolism levels as well as pool high blood pressure. Metabolic syndrome is a leading cause of coronary artery disease (CAD) and life-threatening complications such as heart attack and stroke.
“Sleep should be well dosed”
A sleep disorder is when a person has trouble falling or staying asleep at least three times a week for a period of a month or more. Psychological, neurological or other physical illnesses are often behind a sleep disorder. According to sleep physicians, healthy sleep lasts between six and eight hours. “Although this can vary individually and also in the age groups,” emphasizes cardiologist Prof. Sinha in the podcast. While adults usually get by with a sleep duration of between six and nine hours and seniors sometimes with less than six hours, school children usually need nine to eleven and infants even 14 to 17 hours of sleep. “Sleep should be well dosed,” says Prof. Sinha in a nutshell. Because too much sleep can also lead to misguided metabolic processes that are harmful to the body.
Be careful if you suspect sleep apnea
One of the most common sleep disorders is sleep apnea, which is caused by breathing pauses during sleep. According to experts, around eight to ten percent of men and two to five percent of women in Germany are affected by sleep apnea. Brief awakening reactions, which we usually do not even notice, are harmless. In patients with sleep apnea, however, they occur up to 300 times a night due to breathing pauses. If the breathing pause lasts at least ten seconds, this is called disturbed breathing in medicine. Typical symptoms of sleep apnea are snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness. Snoring alone is not a problem – except for the bed neighbor. “Sleep apnea is only present when there are pauses in breathing during snoring,” explains Sinha. “And these breathing pauses are a tremendous amount of stress that you put on your body.” Because cells and organs are no longer sufficiently supplied with oxygen and the body then goes into an alarm state, causing blood pressure and heart rate to rise. More than 15 breathing pauses per hour is moderate sleep apnea, and more than 30 breathing pauses per hour is severe sleep apnea. If sleep apnea is suspected, those affected should definitely see a doctor, advises the cardiologist: “Untreated sleep apnea increases the risk of heart attack, cardiac insufficiency and stroke and shortens life expectancy.”
Tips for a better sleep
In addition to physical causes, stress in everyday life, heavy meals in the evening or an unhealthy lifestyle in general can also promote sleep disorders. If you have trouble falling asleep or sleeping through the night, you should only eat light, protein-rich meals in the evening and not drink coffee for at least four hours before going to bed. Other tips for a healthy sleep include:
- Establish some sort of evening and sleep routine: Go to bed at about the same time each night. The time you fall asleep and wake up should not vary by more than 30 minutes.
- The bedroom should be cool, quiet and darkened – 18 degrees is ideal. Fresh air also ensures better sleep.
- Regular sleep rituals such as breathing exercises, listening to quiet music or meditation help to calm down and fall asleep better.
- Avoid electronic devices such as computers, smartphones or tablets late in the evening (blue light emissions!).
- Regular exercise improves sleep, but not if you’re active late at night. Therefore, shift your physical activity to the time before 6 p.m.
Service
You can find more tips for healthy sleep and information on the causes and consequences of sleep disorders in the current Heart Foundation podcast “Why does our heart get sick when we don’t sleep?” www.herzstiftung.de/podcast-schlaf and in issue 2/2022 of the Heart Foundation magazine HERZ today with the title “Healthy sleeping”. A copy of this issue can be requested free of charge by calling 069 955128-400 or by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. Under www.herzstiftung.de You can find more helpful information by entering “sleep” in the search function.
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