Your Body, Your Health

Night Moves: How restless sleep can hurt your heart

Nearly 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and insomnia that prevent them from getting a good night’s sleep. If you’re one of those people who rarely gets 40 winks, you should know that inadequate sleep can do more than make you feel tired and irritable: A poor night's sleep can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Sleep apnea has been linked to high blood pressure, a key risk factor for heart disease. If you snore loudly, gasp for breath or stop breathing for short periods at night and are drowsy during the day, you may be suffering from sleep apnea. Many people don’t realize they have the condition until their spouse points it out. Excessive daytime drowsiness can also be a sign. Sleep apnea is more common among people who are overweight, smoke or drink alcohol.

The forced breathing that results from sleep apnea causes blood pressure changes within vessel walls, leading to high blood pressure. When sleep apnea is untreated, pressure changes within the heart’s chambers can lead to atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm associated with congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease and stroke.

Treatment for sleep apnea includes weight loss, decongestants, a mouthpiece worn at night that repositions your tongue and jaw to prevent airway obstruction and a continuous positive airway pressure device that supplies a steady stream of air via a pump and nose mask to keep your airway open as you sleep. Surgery to remove excess tissue, nasal polyps or tonsils is another option.

Do you get less than six hours of sleep at night or more than nine? If so, you could be putting yourself in greater danger of heart disease, says a study recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine Too little - or too much- sleep can raise your blood pressure and make you more susceptible to diabetes, increasing your risk of heart problems.

When insomnia, or the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep, results in chronic sleep deprivation, your body excretes excess amounts of the stress hormone cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels are linked with high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome - all risk factors for heart disease. Another potential side effect of chronic insomnia can be abandoning healthy lifestyle measures. When you’re sleep deprived, you may be more likely to grab unhealthy snacks and skip exercise, which, in time, can contribute to the development of conditions like obesity or unhealthy blood sugar levels that put you at risk for heart disease.

Treatment plans include keeping a sleep diary to track sleep habits and help pinpoint the cause of the problem and taking prescription drugs, called hypnotics. Hypnotics, however, may cause side effects such as morning grogginess, headaches and memory problems. Chronic insomnia should be treated by your health care provider. Over-the-counter sleep aids are available, but shouldn’t be used without your health care provider’s consent.

Information taken from 2005 Women's HeartAdvantage