YOUR BEDTIME CAN INCREASE STROKE RISKS!
Healthiest time to hit sheets is 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.
THE time you choose to fall asleep could help you put heart problems to bed! A new study from the U.K. analyzed data from more than 88,000 adults between the ages of 43 and 79 who were tracked for about six years and discovered nodding off between 10 and 11 p.m. may lower the risk of developing heart disease — more than any other bedtime.
The statistics showed folks who hit the hay from 11 to 11:59 p.m. had 12 percent greater odds of experiencing issues such as stroke, heart failure, heart attacks and chronic ischemic heart disease. People who snoozed at midnight or later had a 25 percent higher risk.
Meanwhile, those who drifted off before 10 p.m. saw their odds jump by 24 percent.
“The body has a 24-hour internal clock, called circadian rhythm, that helps regulate physical and mental functioning,” explains neuroscientist David Plans, co-author of the study and a lecturer at the University of Exeter.
“While we cannot conclude causation from our study, the results suggest that early or late bedtimes may be more likely to disrupt the body clock, with adverse consequences for cardiovascular health.”
Dr. Francoise Marvel — codirector of the Johns Hopkins Digital Health Lab, who was not involved in the research — says the study “reinforces what we know from a cardiovascular risk prevention standpoint — sleep is a risk factor.”
Plans adds if the findings are confirmed in other studies, sleep timing and basic sleep hygiene could be a “low-cost public health target” for reducing heart disease.