A recent study by the American Heart Association found a link between sleeping soundly and heart health. As a result, they recently updated their checklist to measure cardiovascular health to include sleep quality and duration. Other items on the list include these important heart health and lifestyle factors:
Nicotine exposure, physical activity, diet, weight, blood glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure.
Now, the AHA considers sleep essential to optimal brain and heart health. The organization recommends that adults sleep seven to nine hours per night. Children should sleep longer depending on age, they say.
The AHA calls the checklist that measures cardiovascular health Life’s Essential 8™, which replaced the previous Life’s Simple 7™. They published their latest guidelines for heart health in the AHA’s peer-reviewed journal Circulation.
Other Updates to the Heart Health Guidance
The AHA also updated other ideal cardiovascular health measures for people aged two and older. It includes updates on healthy eating habits and exposure to secondhand smoke or nicotine via vaping. Diet guidelines also use non-HDL cholesterol instead of total cholesterol to measure blood lipids. Finally, blood sugar measures include hemoglobin A1c, an important measurement to predict diabetes risk.
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide. The AHA’s 2022 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update found that around 121.5 million people in the US have hypertension. One hundred million suffer from obesity, while over 28 million have Type 2 diabetes. Additionally, only 25% of adults reported engaging in the recommended levels of exercise, 150 minutes of moderate to intense aerobic activity per week.
However, many studies have discovered that over 80% of cardiovascular disease is preventable. Healthy lifestyle habits such as diet, exercise, and managing other risk factors can stave off risks. Sleeping well also can lower the risk of heart disease, according to the latest findings.
Sleeping Well Promotes Optimal Heart Health
“The new metric of sleep duration reflects the latest research findings: sleep impacts overall health, and people who have healthier sleep patterns manage health factors such as weight, blood pressure, or risk for Type 2 diabetes more effectively,” said American Heart Association President Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, M.D., Sc.M., FAHA, who led the advisory writing group.
He’s also the chair of the department of preventive medicine and the Eileen M. Foell Professor of Heart Research. Additionally, he’s a professor of preventive medicine, medicine, and pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
“In addition, advances in ways to measure sleep, such as with wearable devices, now offer people the ability to reliably and routinely monitor their sleep habits at home.”
Over the last 20 years, scientists have made remarkable discoveries on the mind-heart-body connection. As new research came out, the AHA wanted to update its guidelines with the latest information on cardiovascular health. Four of the original metrics have been updated with newer guidelines or compatibility with cutting-edge measurement tools.
The AHA divided their Life’s Essential 8™ elements of ideal cardiovascular health into two categories: health behaviors and health factors. Health behaviors include diet, physical activity, sleep, and nicotine exposure. Heart health factors include BMI, cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure measurements.
“The idea of optimal cardiovascular health is important because it gives people positive goals to work toward at any stage of life.”
“Life’s Simple 7™ has served as a proven, powerful tool for understanding how to achieve …
