Healthy Sleep Habits Cut the Risk of Heart Failure

Disrupted sleep is linked to neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, and poor sleep can worsen diabetes, obesity, and depression. Making small changes to ensure healthier sleep can significantly improve your health and longevity, including lowering your risk of heart failure by 42%.

Healthy Sleep Habits Cut Risk of Heart Failure Nearly in Half

These new findings add to increasing research that links sleep habits with heart health. A healthy sleep pattern for most people means approximately 7 to 9 hours of sleep, no snoring, little to no insomnia, early rising, and little to no daytime sleepiness.

U.S. scientists analyzed data from 408,802 UK Biobank participants ages 37 to 73. Those with the healthiest sleep pattern had 42% lower risk of heart failure overall. Heart failure risks decreased in early risers by 8 %, seven- to eight-hour sleepers by 12%, infrequent insomniacs by 17%, and infrequent nappers by 34%.

In another meta-analysis of 474,684 patients, sleeping fewer than six hours or more than eight hours was tied to higher risk of developing or dying from coronary heart disease and stroke. Those who slept longer than eight hours also had higher total cardiovascular disease risks.

A Swiss study showed that napping once or twice a week helped reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 48%, although the benefits decreased with frequent naps. Meta-analysis of 313,651 participants reported that people who took naps longer than one hour had a 30% higher risk of all-cause death and 34% higher likelihood of cardiovascular disease compared to those who took no naps.