How Much Sleep?

By Editorial Staff

A big reason why getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night matters: a lower risk of experiencing dangerous clogged leg arteries, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke. The condition is known as peripheral artery disease, and the amount of sleep you get on a nightly basis can increase or decrease your risk of PAD accordingly.

Published in the European Heart Journal – Open, this study found that peripheral artery disease risk was higher in people who experienced short sleep (fewer than five hours per night) or long sleep (eight or more hours per night) vs. people with an average nightly sleep duration of 7-8 hours. Short sleep was the strongest risk factor for PAD, and making things worse, PAD was associated with an increased likelihood of short sleep. (As you might imagine, since symptoms of PAD include numbness / coldness / weakness, painful cramping, etc.) These associations were similar when evaluating daytime napping; daytime nappers had an increased risk of peripheral artery disease compared to non-nappers.

The conclusion, which we've heard before based on studies investigating a variety of health variables: Sleep matters – not just the amount (not too much, not too little), but also the quality. After all, you might say you sleep eight hours a night, but how many of those eight hours are restful, restorative sleep? If you wake up tired every morning, your sleep quality isn't what it needs to be. If you wake up multiple times during the night (even for quick trips to the bathroom), your sleep quality isn't what it needs to be. Talk to your doctor for more information.