03/10/2023
Daylight Savings Time (DST) is coming up. It begins this Sunday, March 12, 2023. The clocks spring forward at 2:00 AM.
Some people have trouble adjusting to the time shift and lose sleep as a result. But researchers have found a significant increase in the number of heart attacks and strokes that occur in the days following the start of DST.
This coincides with what the American Heart Association has said about losing sleep and cardiovascular disease. According to the AMA, any sleep loss can be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes. So consistently getting good sleep is essential for good cardiovascular health.
The AMA recently added sleep to its list of factors that promote the best cardiovascular health in a person. The list is called “Life’s Essential 8” and it includes the following:
Eating a healthy diet
Not smoking or va**ng
Being physically active
Getting adequate sleep
Controlling your blood pressure
Maintaining healthy levels of cholesterol and lipids
Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels
Maintaining a healthy weight
The AMA says it’s not just the quantity of sleep that matters. The quality of sleep is important as well. Falling asleep at different times and sleeping different amounts each night are linked to the development of hardened arteries, a condition called atherosclerosis.
Additionally, researchers have looked at the relationship between sleep quality and heart health among teenagers. Researchers examined the effect that a delayed or irregular sleep midpoint during school days and on-break weekdays had on the association of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) on blood pressure. (The sleep midpoint is halfway between when a person falls asleep and when they wake up.)
Over a seven-night period, researchers measured the following in a group of 303 adolescents:
Sleep duration
Sleep midpoint
Sleep variability
Sleep regularity
They found that teenagers with an irregular sleep-wake phase (regardless of how much they sleep overall) may be more likely to develop cardiovascular sequelae associated with central obesity.
So not only are sleep quantity, quality, and regularity important for adults’ cardiovascular health, but they’re also essential for adolescents’ cardiovascular well-being.
People should be mindful of this, especially with the upcoming shift to Daylight Savings Time. Shifting the time by even an hour can throw off a person’s sleep-wake phase.
