It’s been said that very successful people don’t waste time with sleep, only closing their eyes for maybe four to five hours. But new research says that routinely cutting your REM cycle short — less than six hours — is associated with an increased risk of heart disease.
Researchers in Spain evaluated almost 4,000 adults with an average age of 45 and their sleep habits and published their study Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
They found that a group that slept less than six hours a night had a higher buildup of fatty plaque in their arteries, a dangerous sign of impending heart disease.
The key amount of sleep for better heart health occurred in the groups that reported between six and eight hours of rest. The group that slept more than eight hours also had markers of poor heart health, the researchers said.
“These results highlight the importance of healthy sleep habits for the prevention of cardiovascular disease,” the researchers wrote.
• Laura Kelly can be reached at lkelly@washingtontimes.com.
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