"Snooze Score" Predicts Future Heart Issues
The American Heart Association has a guideline called Life’s Simple 7. It highlights important steps you should take to improve and maintain your heart health.
Some of these steps are critical like maintaining healthy blood pressure, blood sugar, and weight.
Others are less serious like lowering LDL cholesterol levels.
But, based on overwhelming research, they’ve added an additional item to this checklist that might surprise some folks…
And it falls into the “critical” category:
SLEEP.
Never underestimate the importance of good sleep.
It does so much more than simply make you feel rested and rejuvenated. Your body actively uses the time that you’re sleeping for recovery and repair.
It also helps bolster your immune system and improve your brain performance.
Plus, it’s vital for fighting off the number one killer in the US: heart disease.
In a recent sleep study of 1,920 people averaging 69 years old, researchers added a sleep score to the Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) results.
That new score was arrived at by including details like:
- sleep duration
- regularity of sleep
- daytime sleeping
- sleep disorders
The researchers found that when they added the sleep score to the LS7 results they became significantly better at accurately predicting future heart events including heart attack, bypass surgery, and chest pain.
Ultimately, folks who had the highest scores for Life’s Simple 7 AND sleep had up to 80 percent lower odds of getting heart disease.
On the other end of the scale the volunteers who got the least amount of sleep had the highest prevalence of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
This was the first study to show that measuring sleep metrics can predict heart health.
Now, the AHA’s updated Life’s Simple 8 includes the following steps:
- Eat better.
- Be more active.
- Quit tobacco.
- Get healthy sleep.
- Manage weight.
- Control cholesterol.
- Manage blood sugar.
- Manage blood pressure.
The more of these steps you manage to take the healthier your heart is likely to be.
P.S. Melatonin is critical for regulating your body’s sleep/wake cycles. You simply can’t have good quality sleep without it. But don’t boost your levels with a supplement. Do THIS instead.
SOURCE:
“Redefining Cardiovascular Health to Include Sleep: Prospective Associations with Cardiovascular Disease in the MESA Sleep Study.” Journal of the American Heart Association, 2022;0: e025252, originally published: 19 Oct 2022, https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.122.025252.
Written By Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D.
For years he’s been the trusted doctor for celebrities, world-class athletes, and countless seniors looking to reclaim their health.
And now…for the first time ever… he’s making his medical breakthroughs available to readers all across America.
Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D. is one of the most pioneering and innovative minds in medicine today – and he delivers cutting-edge cures each month through his Natural Health Response newsletter.
Natural Health Response readers get full access to Dr. Gerhauser’s protocols for chronic pain… heart disease… diabetes… Alzheimer’s… and even cancer. These are the very same treatments Dr. Gerhauser recommends to his own patients at his practice in Tucson, Arizona.
In addition to being a board-certified medical doctor, Dr. Gerhauser has earned two master’s degrees and has served as a clinical professor at the University of Arizona.
And as a physician at the world-famous Canyon Ranch, Dr. Gerhauser treated celebrities from around the world who paid dearly for the type of next-generation health information he provides Natural Health Response readers each month.
View More Free Articles
Food Sensitivities Trigger Mysterious Symptoms
What do joint pain, skin rashes, headaches, and brain fog all have in common? They can all be caused by food sensitivities. Identifying problem foods—and eliminating them from your diet—can improve chronic symptoms ranging from migraine headaches and joint pain to skin rashes, brain fog, and even fatigue and fibromyalgia. The only problem? Most people—and […]
Forbidden Drink SLASHES Colon Cancer Risk 32%
A few weeks ago, I highlighted the alarming increase in colon cancer in people under 55. And I shared the results of a recent study showing that obesity is a key factor driving colorectal cancer in younger people. Of course, thousands of us over 55 are still diagnosed with colon cancer every year. And in […]
Fight Aging at the Cellular Level
I’m an “it’s never too late” kind of guy. You’ve never taken that trip to Italy? Call a travel agent. You’ve always wanted to learn German? Look up Rosetta Stone. Salsa dancing has always looked like fun? Sign up for lessons. And, as it turns out, it’s also never too late to fight back against […]
REAL Relief for Late-Stage MS Symptoms
If you have multiple sclerosis (MS), some days it can feel like you have nowhere to go but down. As the condition progresses, symptoms like poor balance, tingling and burning nerve pain, and slurred speech can worsen. And as hopeless as it can feel, it’s never too late to take steps that can have a […]
NATURAL Duo Tackles Pain and Inflammation
Mainstream medicine would like you to believe they’re the only ones who have answers for how to relieve your pain. The only problem is their answers are terrible. Their so-called “solutions” include NSAIDs, antidepressants, narcotics, steroid injections, and surgery. And they ALL come with their own set of problems that are as bad or worse […]
Eat THIS to Live Longer
When I look at research—whether it’s on a drug, a surgical procedure, or a supplement—I always ask this question: But does it help you live longer? After all, why take a pharmaceutical drug if you’re going to be exposed to all of the risks with no real benefit? So, I did a double-take when I […]
“Solar Prescription” Busts through Bad Moods
Can you feel it? Summertime is just around the corner, and I can’t wait for it to arrive. Here in Arizona, summer temps can often soar to over 100 degrees. In fact, it’s downright sweltering—and I personally couldn’t be happier about it. I love sweating out the toxins and soaking in the cold water of […]
Hidden Condition Sends Heart Risk SOARING
Forty-seven million Americans are taking cholesterol medications daily. And over 17 percent of us are on a diet and trying to lose weight at any point in time. To top it off, Big Pharma pours billions into the development of heart-related pharmaceutical drugs every year. Yet, we still haven’t put a significant dent in heart […]
Ordinary Nutrient Naturally Reduces Blood Sugar
Can a single nutrient help those with type 2 diabetes significantly reduce blood sugar levels? Pharmaceutical companies want you to believe the answer is no. But according to a recent study, the answer is a resounding YES! In fact, one of my favorite nutrients has been shown to significantly reduce blood sugar levels in an […]
Alarming Increase in Early-Onset Colon Cancer
Colon cancer rates have been steadily dropping in people over 55—likely due to early screening methods that can catch it in its pre-cancerous stage. But in people under 55, it’s a different story. In recent years, colon cancer has surged in this age group—growing at a rate of about 1 to 2 percent per year. […]