Healthy sleep patterns linked to lower risk of heart rhythm problems
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People who report healthy sleep habits may be less likely to have certain heart rhythm disorders, new research finds.
The study relied on data from the UK Biobank, a large database of health and genetic information in the United Kingdom. More than 400,000 participants answered five questions about their sleep habits. Healthy sleep patterns were defined as being a morning person; sleeping seven to eight hours a night; not snoring; and rarely or never having insomnia or daytime drowsiness. The opposites of those characteristics (including sleeping too little) were considered poor sleep habits.
Compared with people with the poorest sleep habits, those with the healthiest habits had a 29% lower risk of developing atrial fibrillation (a rapid, irregular rhythm) and a 35% lower risk of bradyarrhythmia (a slow, irregular rhythm). The findings, which appeared in September 2021 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, add to growing evidence that both the quality and quantity of sleep play a role in cardiovascular health.
Image: © Wavebreakmedia/Getty ImagesAbout the Author
Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
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