Is Your Sleep Adequate? If Not, It Could Lead To Blocked Arteries: Other Things That Can Up Risk Of Blocked Arteries

Taking adequate sleep is extremely important for your overall health and well-being. A good night's sleep is important for all systems of the body to function properly and effectively. People who want to lose weight cannot accomplish their goals unless their daily sleep is adequate. Now, a new study has said that sleeping for less than 6 hours in a day or waking up several times during the night can increase risk asymptomatic atherosclerosis. This is a condition which hardens and narrows arteries. According to the study, which was presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2018 in Munich, Germany, being unable to sleep can increase risks of blocking or narrowing of arteries.

The study was conducted on around 4,000 healthy and middle-aged adults. All the participants were made to wear a waistband activity monitor for a week. This was done in order to record their sleep quality and quantity. Participants were divided into 5 groups in accordance with their fragmented sleep. Four groups designated average of the number of hours they slept at night as:

Less than 6 hours of sleep: very short

6 to 7 hours of sleep: short

7 to 8 hours of sleep: reference

More than 8 hours of sleep: long

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Atherosclerosis is referred to narrowing of arteries because of plaque build-up in artery walls. This was assessed in participants in their leg and neck arteries using 3-D ultrasound. On an average, the participants were aged 46 years. 63% of the total participants of the study were men.

It was found that people who experienced highest quantity of fragmented sleep were at increased risks of atherosclerosis as compared to those who had proper sleep. It was also found that people who had short or disrupted sleep were more prone to metabolic syndromes such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Poor sleep quality is indicative of a poor lifestyle.

However, there are still more studies needed to find out if sleeping well for around 8 hours can prevent or reverse this effect on arteries.

Good night sleep, however, is of utmost importance. Make sure you do the needful to have a good night's sleep.

Also read: All You Need To Know About Sleep Medication: It's Use And Abuse

Following are some useful tips which can help you have a good night's sleep:

1. Have a physically active lifestyle. Exercise regularly to get a good sleep and have a healthy and fit body. Work your body up in a way that it actually begs for sleep at night.

2. Limit intake of caffeine as it can disturb your sleep. Avoid drinking coffee or tea before bed time.

3. Also, do not eat a lot of fatty foods before going to sleep.

4. When you go to sleep, ease yourself and try to not stress over anything before bedtime.

5. Limit intake of alcohol. Alcohol disrupts sleep and can effect sleep quality.

Also read: Why Does One Talk While Sleeping? Tips And Ways To Stop Sleep Talking

Apart from poor sleep quality, there are numerous other reasons which can contribute to blocked arteries. These include:

1. Smoking

2. High blood pressure

3. Diabetes

4. Sedentary lifestyle

5. Being overweight or obese

6. Taking excessive stress

7. Physical inactivity or lack of exercise

8. Unhealthy diet where there is no control over intake unhealthy foods or the ones which can contribute to an increase in blood pressure or cholesterol.