A new statement from the American Heart Association that was recently published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes suggests that many aspects of healthy sleep, including timing, number of hours per night, and self-reported satisfaction, can impact cardiovascular health and related risk factors.
The scientific statement included a description of the various components of sleep health as well as a review of the most recent evidence relating sleep to heart health. Sleep is one component of Life’s Essential 8, a list of essential elements related to cardiovascular health that is published by the American Heart Association. While sleep duration is the only measure of sleep health specified in Life’s Essential 8, recent research suggests that many components of sleep health play a factor in cardiovascular risk and outcomes. The statement suggests that no single component of sleep health can give a full picture of the quality of one’s sleep and its effect on heart health. Instead, sleep must be measured and improved wholistically for optimal health.
Key components of sleep health specified in the scientific statement included duration (number of hours per night), continuity (proportion of the night spent sleeping), timing (the time at which sleep begins each night), satisfaction (one’s perception of the quality of their sleep), regularity (the stability of one’s sleep schedule over time), daytime functioning (staying awake and alert during the day), and architecture (the sleep stages one experiences while sleeping). While individual components can give a sense of the quality of a person’s sleep, each factor is important and must be measured to give a picture of overall sleep health.
The authors noted that most people tend to focus only on duration of sleep as a measure of sleep health and a quantity to improve. However, every aspect of sleep health plays a role in determining sleep quality and risk for other diseases. Along with heart disease, poor sleep is associated with obesity, depression, high blood pressure, cognitive decline, and more.
Sources: Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, Science Daily