Sleep is an essential factor in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, underline doctors from the League of Cardiologists in Belgium, reports Belga.
Obviously, the importance of other factors such as cholesterol and smoking, which contribute to the onset of cardiovascular diseases, should not be overlooked. Smoking and diet have been shown to have direct effects on heart health. Apparently, sleep seems to have less influence on the appearance of these diseases, but the consequences are greater and numerous. Poor quality sleep increases appetite and obviously increases the risk of overweight, hypertension, promotes the onset of glucose intolerance, cardiac arrhythmia or its relapse, underlines the League of Cardiologists in Belgium.
Belgian specialists insist on what is called sleep apnea: repetitive interruptions (apneas) and / or reductions (hypopnea) in the flow of air during sleep, each lasting at least ten seconds.
Four out of five people suffer from this type of apnea, which is neither diagnosed nor treated. The main risk factors in sleep apnea are age and overweight. In addition, chronic insomnia – at least three difficult nights a week for three consecutive months – has long-term cardiovascular consequences.
We have an increasing prevalence
What do doctors advise? In addition to observing a restful sleep, doctors recommend a temperature between 16 and 19 degrees in the bedroom, good ventilation, but above all to abandon the list of tasks that we have to complete the next day and … with at least an hour before going to bed to leave the screens: TV, telephone, laptop.
“If we strictly refer to sleep apnea syndrome, especially obstructive forms, because they predominate, we have an increasing prevalence, we have a multitude of such patients who are not diagnosed or who are diagnosed late. Many times there is a stigma in the society due to snoring and the lack of awareness of the pathology in many situations “, underlines the university professor. Dr. Florin Mihălţan.
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