Perfect bedtime for a healthy heart

GOING to bed at 11pm reduces the risk of high blood pressure and keeps the heart healthy – if you’re a man, say scientists.

But for women, the perfect time to sleep is midnight. A study of 14,000 people found those sticking to these times had the lowest chance of cardiac problems.

But retiring earlier or later increased the risk, as sleeping too much or too little are both linked to high blood pressure.

The results, published in the journal Postgraduate Medicine, showed men who usually went to sleep at 11pm were 2 per cent less likely to get high blood pressure.

Researchers at the University of South China said the risk ‘gradually decreased with the delay of bedtime’. Getting to sleep at other times may skew the body’s internal clock, and may reflect mental stress which can increase the risk to the heart.

One in five UK adults has high blood pressure, a cause of heart attacks and strokes.