For a Healthy Heart, sleep duration matters, says AHA recommendation

American Heart Association has added sleep duration to its cardiovascular health checklist, which says adults should get seven to nine hours of sleep each night.

Now sleep duration is a part of "Life's Essential 8," a questionnaire that contains eight key areas to determine a person's cardiovascular health. The updated list was published in a circulation, Peer-reviewed journal of AHA. The latest questionnaire had replaced the association's "Life's Simple 7", which had been used since 2010.

Sleep duration entered the list when researchers examined new findings over the past decade and found that sleep plays a significant role in cardiovascular health. Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, the AHA's chief medical officer for prevention, said, "Folks not getting enough sleep to have a higher likelihood of things like obesity, hypertension, and diabetes."

Dr. Raj Dasgupta, pulmonary critical care and sleep specialist, said that an adult must get seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Dr. Dasgupta explains that a person goes through many REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM sleep cycles, and non-REM has three stages. In the third stage, the person enters into a deep sleep, restoring the body both physically and mentally. If a person keeps waking up, it will prevent him/her from going into those deeper stages, leading to higher blood sugar and blood pressure. Those conditions can lead to heart disease and a high heart failure risk. Thus, people must have a quality sleep to reap the benefits, said Dr. Dasgupta.