Watch Your Sleep Schedule, Your Heart May Be At Risk

Most of us already know that having an unbalanced sleep schedule may create health issues that are uncalled for! But very few of us know that our heart suffers the most when we do not follow a good sleeping schedule! A majority of people today ignore the importance of a healthy sleeping schedule in their lives!

Thanks to the growing internet usage and availability of digital devices around us, most youngsters have almost forgotten the right time to fall asleep and wake up! It is a casual norm to be awake till dawn (unless you have morning duties) and sleep till noon! You may not be realizing but you are causing great harm to not only your heart but your entire physical and mental health! 

Problems that can arise due to poor sleep…

To start with, almost all your body organs get affected when you do not get enough sleep! Right from your brain to your internal organs, all of them suffer majorly if you experience sleep apnea or insomnia like disorders. Other than controlling your energy levels and mood swings, a bad sleep schedule can bring harm to your heart health, cause obesity and affect your body a lot more than you can imagine.

Nonetheless, it increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, or even heart failure which may lead to death also! Other physical disorders that you may face due to irregular sleeping habits or lesser sleep include high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, asthma, stress, anxiety, memory loss, irritability, and the list is endless!

What sleeping conditions lead to poor heart health?

The most common sleeping problem that causes our heart to suffer is sleep apnea and insomnia. For the ones who seem to be foreign to these terms, sleep apnea is caused when the respiratory passage keeps getting blocked during sleeping. On the other hand, insomnia refers to having trouble falling asleep or not being able to stay asleep for a longer time period.

Both these sleeping conditions can lead to heart failure when they become worse. If you have sleep apnea, it means your body’s oxygen presence is controlled during sleeping. And if it is not treated on time, it can lead to stroke, heart failure, heart attack, high blood pressure, and other similar issues. It is seen majorly among people having high obesity.

On the other hand, insomnia is a very common disease that almost all of us have suffered at least once in our lives. The lifestyle that people are leading today, it is not far when each of us will have insomnia that will become an integral part of our lives, causing our hearts to suffer even more day by day! Both these conditions affect our hearts to a greater extent!

What can be done to improve sleep disorders and have a healthy heart?

Before we plunge into knowing how to improve our sleep schedule, we must know how much sleep is needed for keeping ourselves healthy! Well, the common norm is to get 7-8 hours of straight sleep hours daily despite getting laid or working the entire day! But given the fact that we remain busy with so many things in our lives, getting 7-8 straight sleeping hours regularly might be tough! So, it is still okay if you can get 6 hours of sleep regularly, anything below this can be harmful! If and when you get time, you must sleep 7-8 hours!

Now, coming to what can be done to improve our sleep schedule or how we can fall asleep naturally without having to be on medications or other remedies! The following few tips can help you fall asleep faster…

• We have all read the poem “early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. As much as we have ignored this in our childhood, in our adolescence,  every line of this poem seems to be showing us the path of enlightenment! If you want to fall asleep early, wake up early; there is no better remedy to falling asleep faster than this ‘tried and tested’ method! 

• Be physically active the entire day! No matter what you do, you need to be physically active to let your body be tired before you go to bed. If you have a sitting job, get home and exercise, if you stay at home all day try getting involved in household chores, and do anything that draws energy from your body and makes you tired, this shall help you fall asleep faster! 

• Get enough natural light! While the standard norm today is to sit at home in air conditioners, avoiding sunlight or any natural light for that matter, it is only affecting our health without us being sincere about that! But you must know that when your body gets natural light, it helps you get better sleep.

• Stay away from unhealthy habits before bedtime. It includes drinking alcohol, smoking, using a laptop, mobile, etc., and consuming foods that are high in fat or sugar. These things can inhibit the production of sleep hormones in your body and can keep you awake for a longer time period. 

• Lastly, keep your mind free of stress. Apply the theory of ‘forgive and forget’ before you hit your bed. Try practicing meditation before sleeping and avoid putting very bright lights in your bedroom. This shall also improve your sleep schedule way beyond what you can expect!

The final thoughts…

In today’s time, having a sound sleeping habit has almost become a luxury, more so in metro cities where everyone is running after materialistic success! With handling multiple professional endeavors and yearning to earn more, people are neglecting their health day by day without even realizing it! It is the cause why we see so many youngsters suffering a heart attack at a young age!

It is often said that people who fall asleep soon after hitting the bed are the luckiest ones and it’s truly so! When you get enough sleep, your day is already made and your heart is taken care of! So, next time you feel “sleep is a luxury”, remind yourself that “sleep is a necessity” for improving your overall health! Sleep right or else you will have to sleep the rest of your life!