Keep your heart healthy, sleep for 7 hours daily to lower excess heart age

Heart health: You can keep your heart healthy by ensuring you get at least 7 hours of sleep every day. A new study suggests it will reduce the age of your heart, and the lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Here’s one more reason why you should always ensure you get enough sleep: A new study has found that sleeping for seven hours a day may reduce the age of your heart, and lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Preliminary results from the study published in the journal Sleep show that excess heart age (EHA) appeared to be lowest among adults who reported sleeping seven hours per 24-hour period. Sleeping times less than or greater than seven hours were associated with increased excess heart age, and the highest elevations in EHA were noted in short sleepers, researchers said.

Sleep duration coupled with EHA may prove helpful for communicating the cardiovascular risks and benefits associated with sleep duration. “These results are important because they demonstrate a quantitative method for the inclusion of sleep duration in the establishment and communication of cardiovascular risk for individuals,” said Julia Durmer from Emory University in the US. “This could have utility in the clinical care of patients with cardiovascular risk, and for public health researchers interested in adding a sleep metric to future studies,” said Durmer.

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