Health Tip: Sleep to Your Heart's Content

THOUGHT you only needed enough sleep to have a clear head to get rich or die trying, did you?

Well, here's news: Sufficient sleep can do wonders, not only for your head but your heart!

Who says? None other than Alan S. Gertler. The good doctor is associate professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He's a cardiologist.

A good night's sleep can do wonders for a certain organ. Image from Getty Images.

“Deep, high-quality sleep is needed to lower heart rate and blood pressure, which reduce stress on the heart,” Gertler recently told the UAB News. “Without enough sleep, there is an increase in blood pressure and stress hormones, lower glucose tolerance and weight gain. “All of these factors can increase the risk of coronary artery disease.”

Anybody getting less than six hours of sleep a night suffers from sleep deprivation. This particular malady can lead one down the slippery slope of elevated C-reactive protein levels or (CRP). This doesn't sound good and it isn't.

An elevated CRP level "may be a marker of inflammation of the endothelial lining of the arteries, which can increase the risk of atherosclerosis” or hardening of the arteries, Gertler said.

Not getting enough sleep? See your doctor (or someone else's if necessary), Gertler counseled.

Heartfelt advice.

Visit http://www.uab.edu/medicine/cardiovascular/ to learn more about the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Rx