Your heart has an important message to tell you: it loves routine. An in-depth analysis of more than 72.000 people has revealed that regular sleep is essential for cardiovascular health. Researchers found that irregular sleepers have a significantly higher risk of developing heart problems. It's as if our body were a sophisticated orchestra: when the conductor (sleep) loses rhythm, all the music suffers. And the consequences can be serious.
The discovery that changes everything
Scientists fromUK Biobank They analyzed data from 72.269 people aged between 40 and 79., none of whom had a previous history of cardiovascular problems. The results were surprising: those who sleep irregularly has a 26% higher risk of developing heart disease. What strikes me most is how this study demonstrates that it is not so much the quantity of sleep that makes the difference, but its regularity.
When Irregular Sleep Becomes a Numbers Matter
Participants wore an activity tracking device for seven days. From this data, researchers created a Sleep Regularity Index (SRI) from 0 to 100. Those who scored above 87 followed a regular pattern, while those who scored below 72 showed irregular habits. The monitoring continued for eight years, tracking episodes of infarct, heart failure e ictus.
The paradox of sleep hours
One of the most interesting aspects that emerged from the study, published in Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health (I link it here), is that Even people who slept the “right” number of hours (7-9 for adults aged 18 to 64, 7-8 for those over 65) but irregularly, showed the same high risks. It's as if our body prefers a mediocre but constant routine rather than alternating periods of optimal and deficient sleep.
The importance of these findings cannot be understated. The researchers considered numerous factors that might influence cardiovascular health, from smoke to the use of drugs, from the consumption of coffee e alcohol to mental health issues. The bottom line is clear: addressing irregular sleep patterns should become a priority in public health guidelines. Our hearts, after all, beat at a regular rate; perhaps we should take a leaf out of it.
