Sleep Your Way to Better Heart Health

Lack of sleep can do more than make you cranky—it could shorten your lifespan. New research suggests that sleeping less than six to eight hours a night leads to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

The risk of heart disease can increase as much as 48 percent and the risk of stroke by 15 percent when a person regularly doesn’t get a minimum of six hours of sleep, scientists from the U.K.’s University of Warwick recently revealed. The researchers found that chronic sleep shortages produce hormones and chemicals in the body that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Researchers studied 470,000 people from eight countries, including the U.S., U.K., Japan, and Sweden, and found that the demands of the modern workplace and family are taking a toll.

“The trend for late nights and early mornings is actually a ticking time bomb for our health,” researcher Francesco Cappuccio told the BBC. “So you need to act now to reduce your risk of developing these life-threatening conditions.”

The study suggests that sleep deprivation also contributes to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity.