Bad sleep is as bad as smoking, says American Heart Association

The American Heart Association (AHA) has defined that poor sleep is as harmful as smoking, in an update on metrics that say which behaviors and risk factors are harmful to health. Metrics help assess heart and brain health. The new update, made this Wednesday, 29, and published in the magazine circulationalso includes that sleeping well can prevent cardiovascular disease.

According to the document update, poor sleep is associated with poor psychological health. Improved sleep duration, or sleep quality, reduces the incidence of cardiovascular diseases such as depression, high blood pressure, obesity and dementia. In addition to reducing diseases, sleeping well brings several improvements to the body such as:

• Strengthening the immune system;
• Repair and healing of cells, tissues and blood vessels;
• Improved energy and mood;
• Increased brain function; and
• Lower risk of chronic diseases

In addition to including sleep quality, the document brings other updates. They are: exposure to secondhand smoke and to the vapor generated by electronic cigarettes are now considered a risk factor, not just smoking; non-HDL cholesterol (the famous “bad cholesterol) and hemoglobin, which should be measured as part of the assessment of blood glucose level, are also included.

In a statement, the AHA said the updates were prompted by new findings in heart and brain health, based on thousands of studies published over the past decade.

With the update, the metrics were named Life’s Essential 8, because in addition to the seven original factors: smoking, diet, physical activity, cholesterol level, blood glucose, body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure, it started to include sleep, where 7 to 9 hours of sleep per day is recommended for adults. The information is from the portal The globe.

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