Poor sleep habits: heart disease and sleep apnea
BOSTON, MA — The connection between sleep and heart disease is a two-way street: Poor sleep can contribute to heart disease, and heart disease can disturb sleep, reports the January 2007 issue of the Harvard Heart Letter.
Poor sleep has been linked with high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, heart failure, heart attack and stroke, diabetes, and obesity. The thread that ties these together may be inflammation, the body’s response to injury, infection, irritation, or disease. Poor sleep increases levels of C-reactive protein and other substances that reflect active inflammation. It also revs up the body’s sympathetic nervous system, which is activated by fright or stress.
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