Good sleep has many benefits, but do you know that as much as good sleep will help you to maintain your normal body functions, it’s also responsible for keeping your heart healthy?

According to the CDC, adults are recommended at least 7 hours of good sleep every day; studies show that 1 out of 3 US adults is not getting enough sleep.

According to the Times of India, India is said to be the second most sleep-deprived country in the world after Japan. As per a study conducted by tech giants, India trails behind on sleep, with an average Indian citizen getting only 7 hours and 1 minute of sleep daily.

The results were the same for REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, too, with Japan and India getting only 77 REM sleep on average. 

All of this might not look threatening at first glance, but do you know that in addition to making you feel tired and groggy, having inadequate sleep can also escalate your chances of having heart problems? 

Know how!

The Connection Between Sleep and Heart Health

Sleep gives the body a chance to recover and rejuvenate, which is important for almost every element of physical health.

Insufficient or interrupted sleep can affect blood pressure and increase the risk of heart disorders, heart attacks, diabetes, and strokes in the cardiovascular system. 

Blood pressure 

When you sleep soundly and normally, your blood pressure reduces by about 10% to 20%. According to the nature.com, research has shown that this process, known as nocturnal dipping, is important for cardiovascular health.

Poor sleep is linked to non-dipping when a person’s blood pressure doesn’t drop at night due to lack of sleep or sleep interruptions. 

Heart attack

Having less sleep heightens the risk of having a heart attack. According to studies, those who sleep for fewer than six hours each night had a 20% higher risk of having a heart attack. 

While NREM sleep promotes cardiac relaxation and recovery, REM sleep is more stressful and active. These stages can become out of balance due to insufficient sleep, which raises the risk of heart attacks.

What triggers a heart attack to occur when you’re asleep?

Heart attacks can occur at any time, whether you’re awake or asleep. The morning and the last stage of sleep are the riskiest times for heart attacks and all types of cardiovascular emergencies, including unexpected cardiac death, aortic rupture or aneurysm, pulmonary embolism, and stroke.

The majority of cardiovascular functions show circadian shifts, and the cardiovascular system exhibits a daily oscillation pattern. A heart attack depends on an imbalance between reduced myocardial oxygen supply and increased myocardial oxygen demand, or both. This means that your heart needs more oxygen.

Unfortunately, several actions during the morning hours—like waking up and starting physical activity—require a higher cardiac oxygen supply. When you first wake up, the adrenal hormone cortisol peaks, with a further rise in your heart rate and blood pressure brought on by catecholamines. 

All of those factors enhance oxygen demand while also contributing to vascular constriction. As a result, the coronary arteries’ blood flow decreases due to decreased vessel size. 

Ways to Keep Your Heart Healthy at Night

Although there is no definite way to avoid a heart attack completely, people can take preventive measures that can lessen their chances of ever experiencing it. 

Below we’ve mentioned some measures youcan take to improve yourhealth conditions and reduce yourchances of experiencing heart attacks at night. 

Recognize the link between adequate sleep and health

The above section already overviews how your sleep and heart health are connected. In addition to high blood pressure and heart attacks, inadequate sleep can result in: 

• Coronary heart disease
• Heart failure
• Increased and irregular heart rate
• Chest pain
• Obesity

All of this makes it highly important that individuals take measures to get enough sleep every day to prevent heart attacks at night.

Get enough sleep

Once you’ve established the connection between your heart health and sleep, it’s time to ensure you have quality sleep every day. A stroke or heart attack is twice as likely in persons who sleep less than six hours per night. Here are some things to keep in mind if you want to sleep better:

• Establish a regular bedtime regimen

Try to maintain a consistent bedtime and wake-up time each night. Instead of sleeping in your everyday clothing, even if they are your cozy running sweatpants, wear special sleep garments (or just an undershirt and undershorts).

According to studies, these things are signs for your brain to know when to sleep.

• Prevent sleep inhibitors from entering your bedroom

Having a comfortable sleeping environment is crucial for restful sleep. One of the worst offenders is lights and electronics. Avoid reading at night on an e-reader 30 minutes before bed or having a computer or TV in your bedroom.

If you frequently experience allergies, which can lead to stuffy noses, mouth breathing, and the need to wake up and drink water, get rid of the carpets or vacuum them frequently, and switch up your bed linens once a week to prevent dust from accumulating and bothering you. 

Eat well to sleep well

The secret to preventing all health issues is a healthy diet. The same holds true for avoiding a nighttime heart attack. Experts strongly advise people to adhere to the following:

• Consume more fruits and veggies: A varied fruit and vegetable diet is associated with a healthy heart and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Have more whole grains: They contain additional vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, healthy fats, and vitamins B and E. Change to a healthy fat diet: Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, i.e., omega-3 and omega-6 fats are the besttypes of fats to consume. These better-for-you fats can be found in avocados, almonds, salmon, and sunflower seeds. Make sure to prevent trans fat.
• Limit salt consumption: Your risk of having high blood pressure  can increase due to the sodium in salt.
• Put an end to drinking calories: You can easily save 100 or more calories each day by giving up only one sugar-sweetened beverage or calorie-dense cappuccino.
• Incorporate nuts into your daily diet: Pistachios, walnuts, and other nuts are all proven to improve your heart’s health.

Drink less beverages and workout more

It’s a misconception that drinking will make you sleep better. Drinking alcohol might give you euphoria, but it does nothing for your sleep. 

The same goes for caffeinated drinks, too, since they might let you work efficiently, but they have huge side effects on the quality and quantity of your sleep.

Avoid these drinks and exercise daily since that’ll inevitably help you sleep peacefully at night. Just be sure to acquire your doctor’s approval before starting a new fitness regimen.

Be active physically

The first step to becoming physically active is to sit less. Adults who spend less time sitting have a lower chance of dying young, especially from heart disease.

Additionally, you should engage in moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes each day. Blood circulation is improved due to moderate aerobic activity, including swimming, brisk walking, and lawn mowing. This, in turn, benefits your heart.

Monitor and regulate your blood pressure

Chances of  heart disease and stroke are both greatly increased by high blood pressure. In general, high blood pressure is defined as readings over 140/90 mmHg. Heart failure develops ultimately due to persistent hypertension, often after 14.1 years. 

The stress on your heart, arteries, and kidneys is decreased when your blood pressure is within safe ranges.

Reduce your cholesterol

High cholesterol makes plaque more likely to form, and plaque can obstruct arteries and cause heart disease and stroke. Try to steer clear of trans-fat-containing foods as they have been linked to an increased lifelong risk of heart disease and stroke. This is due to trans fat clogging your arteries by increasing levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) and decreasing levels of good cholesterol (HDL).

Bring your blood sugar down

According to research, 50% of people with diabetes pass away from heart disease or a stroke. Over time, excessive blood sugar levels can harm your kidneys, eyes, nerves, heart, and other organs while increasing your risk of heart attacks.

Quit smoking

Smoking increases your risk of dying from a heart attack, stroke, or sudden cardiac death by four times and by sudden cardiac death by three times, respectively. To quit, keep trying, get better at it, and ask for help. 

In addition, maintain good oral hygiene. Floss your teeth every day. Studies have shown that dental cleanliness is an excellent indicator of general health, including your heart’s health, and patients who suffer from periodontal (gum) disease frequently have the same risk factors for heart disease.

How to Sleep Well to Prevent a Heart Attack at Night?

  A thorough understanding of how to prevent heart attacks at night require you to maintain a proper routine. Here are a few suggestions that might help you have a sound sleep:

• Make sure you have adequate natural light, especially in the morning. 
• Consider taking a walk in the morning or after lunch.
• Try to avoid working out right before going to bed.
• Avoid artificial light, particularly in the few hours before you go to sleep. 
• Use a blue light filter on your smartphone or computer.
• Make sure your bedroom is lit with dim and warm lights as that helps in melatonin secretion that promotes good sleep 
• Play meditative and soothing music that will lower your brain’s alertness  

Introducing Preventive Cardiology: Your Gateway to Successfully Prevent CVDs

Preventive cardiology is a field of medical science that deals with controlling the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) before they worsen. And when talking about preventive cardiology, a name that can’t be missed is Dr. Rohit Sane. 

With more than 20 years of experience in healthcare and research, Dr. Rohit Sane’s work is a prime example of mixing ancient technologies with modern practices and helping people out in the supreme way possible. 

After earning his MBBS from the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Dr. Rohit Sane started a Fellowship program at Apollo Hospitals in preventive cardiology before deciding to pursue a career in Ayurveda.

His knowledge in both fields led him to help people take up preventive cardiology effectively, and his most famous works are mentioned below. 

3 Best Ayurvedic Therapies to Get Off Sleepless Nights by Dr. Rohit Sane

Inso kit

Above, you read about how inadequate sleep could worsen your heart health. The first research you’ll be reading about corresponds to that. 

Inso kit by Dr. Rohit Sane employs Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaires that characterize the types and potential root causes of sleep issues with Panchkarma and other Ayurvedic therapies to cleanse the body and get rid of the mental and physical toxins that can cause sleeplessness.

The therapies can be described below:

1. Snehana: This includes a full body massage utilizing medicinal oil to induce relaxation, relieve stress, and sound sleep.

2.  Swedana: This is focused on enhancing the effects of Snahena. The relaxation effect of massage therapy is further enhanced, and natural sleep is facilitated after massage.

3. Basti: Gut health is often characterized as a root cause of insomnia. Basti is therefore oriented at patients given doses of r=oral medicines to improve their gut health which helps balance their Vata Dosha and detoxifies the digestive area. Basti is also one of Panchkarma’s more relaxing therapeutic modalities because the patient can use it without feeling unduly stressed.

According to the research done under Dr. Sane, 12 patients having sleep disturbances were made to use Panchkarma therapies and then fill pot PSQI questionnaires. 

The study’s results were highly promising since it was seen that only after seven sessions of the Inso Panchkarma Basil Therapy did the patients see a good change in their sleep schedules. 

After conducting the research for a prolonged time and studying the various investigations obtained, it was concluded that After the study, it was successfully proven that using Panchkarma effectively improves individuals sleeping problems and therefore improves their heart health too. 

Reverse diet kit

The reverse diet kit is another research done under Dr. Sane that included reversing the daily dietary practices of individuals to observe if changing dietary conditions could have any effect on heart health or not. 

The study was done on a 62-year-old patient with coronary artery disease who had already had an encounter with a heart attack. The patient was then prescribed to follow the reverse diet kit therapy for a period of 12 weeks. 

During this time, all of his health parameters, like his weight, heart rate, blood pressure, and more, were supervised regularly. The results, as expected, were promising. The reverse diet kit helped a critical heart patient to improve his quality of life by just changing his daily dietary activities. 

Sampurna Hridaya Shuddhikaran (SHS)

SHS, again by Dr. Rohit Sane, is an Ayurvedic treatment that focuses on how an individual can avoid the risks of heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases. 

SHS also uses the Pancharma practices of Snehana, Swedana, and Basti along with Hrid Dhara to improve people’s heart health, and as concluded in the research done under DR. Sane, 

“Herbal treatment procedure SHS is associated with improvements in ejection fraction, myocardial thickness and exercise tolerance.”

Heart Health Meter to Bolster Your Defenses

The above section explained a lot about the research done by Dr. Rohit Sane, and you must be wondering why. This is to make you understand the importance of having such an expert helping you improve your heart health. 

Do you want to know how that’s done? 

We present the Heart Health Meter (HHM), which has been created under the guidance of Dr. Rohit Sane and incorporates all modern and age-old medical practices to help heart patients lessen worsening their conditions.

With a full medical report outlining the risks, Madhavbaug’s HHM employs a novel meter system to give out a scorecard that varies from several stages of heart health, such as the ‘Worst Stage’ (high risk) to the ‘Excellent Stage’ (no risk). HHM makes consumers’ lives easier while altering them  about potential heart issues. 

Two scoring technologies are used by HHM to accurately predict your health conditions: the Framingham score, which helps predict your chances of developing heart problems, and the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score, which helps predict your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a direct risk factor associated with heart attacks.

As soon as customers choose the Madhavbaug Heart Disease Reversal Program, they receive home-based and specially crafted foods and workouts based on their HHM Scorecard. 

Madhavbaug’s treatments for all types of heart diseases are backed by research by Dr. Rohit Sane. In his 20 years of experience in preventive cardiology, Dr. Sane has worked with many patients and accurately studied what type of treatment works with what condition. 

By combining his knowledge of modern medicine and Ayurveda, he’s helped many patients with their heart problems through his multidisciplinary clinics spread across 25 states of India. 

Sign up on the Madhavbaug website and make HHM a part of your life with quick, actionable recommendations based on your risk estimations. You’ll also receive advice on how to avoid and fix heart-related issues in the future by incorporating all dietary, Ayurvedic, and modern cardiology practices into your daily lives.

Frequently Asked Questions 

1. Is there an ideal time to go to bed that can help prevent a heart attack?

As such, there isn’t a specific healthy bedtime that reduces the risk of heart attack, but recent research has revealed that people who go to sleep at about 10-11 pm show a lower risk of heart disease than those who sleep much later. 

2. Does a heart attack make you sleep a lot?

More sleep by itself isn’t a prominent symptom of a heart attack. In contrast, if you’ve been constantly feeling lethargic, breathless, and similar symptoms, it might be a good idea to consult a health specialist.

3. Is there a specific posture you should adopt while sleeping if you experience a heart attack at night?

If you have cardiovascular issues, it is recommended to lie on your right side. Although there’s a common belief that sleeping on your right side can restrict the blood flow to the heart, there hasn’t been enough research to prove its authenticity. 

4. Are heart attacks more common at night?

The majority of heart attacks occur between the hours of 4 and 10 am when coagulation factors are more sticky, and elevated adrenaline produced by the adrenal gland glands can cause blockages in coronary arteries to break.

5. Which sleeping posture benefits your heart the most?

Health experts often advise people to sleep on their right sides. Studies have found that sleeping on the right side lowers heart pressure,regulates and stabilizes blood pressure and heart rate. 

6. Does hydration at night protect against heart attacks?

People often avoid drinking water at night since that often leads to nightly bathroom visits, but cardiologists suggest against this. A glass of water before bed can lower the chance of having a heart attack or stroke. 

According to a study published in the American Journal of Medical Epidemiology, people who consume five glasses or more of plain water daily have a lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease than those who consume less than two. Similar to aspirin, drinking water before bed improves circulation at the times of day when you are statistically most likely to experience a heart attack.

7. How do you avoid having a heart attack at night?

One can’t avoid what’s written in his fate, but one can take measures to lower the impacts of mishappenings written in his life. That is why we suggest Madhavbaug’s preventive cardiology treatments that work to improve the overall health of your body with a prime focus on your heart health. 

Madhavbaug’s heart disease reversal program drafts diet, exercise, and treatment schedules according to every patient’s needs, keeping in mind the condition of their body and avoiding any side effects that might occur. 

8. Do preventive cardiology methods from Madhavbaug really help in avoiding heart attacks at night?

Madhavbaug’s preventive cardiology methods are specifically catered to help people avoid cardiovascular problems through simple lifestyle changes and Ayurvedic techniques. 

Their signature tool, the Heart Health Meter, helps people predict their chances of ever developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems long before they’ve occurred, and as a result, people can adequately take precautions against them. 

9. Can you really predict the chances of having a heart attack at night in the future?

Madhavbaug’s preventive cardiology tool, the Heart Health Meter, uses two scoring technologies to detect your health conditions. Out of them, the Framingham score helps people accurately predict their chances of ever developing heart problems. 

10. Why should you trust Madhavbaug with your heart’s health?

When you associate with Madhavbaug, you can stop worrying about your health issues. The therapies used by Madhavbaug are supported by in-depth research, effective diets, and routines. 

Several health experts working with Madhavbaug have published their research about the use of Ayurveda in treating heart conditions in prestigious academic journals. Additionally, the expertise of their medical staff and the depth of Dr. Rohit Sane’s knowledge, the creator of Madhavbaug, contribute to the treatments’ increased efficacy.