Watching TV could be bad for your heart health
Forty percent of Americans, and a third of British people do not get enough sleep. Without it we are setting ourselves up for future health problems.
Getting adequate sleep is a very important factor in our health and well-being. It is essential for the body to be able to repair and rejuvenate itself. However, increasing sleep deprivation is ocurring among people from the the United States, and the United Kingdom, and this is being linked to serious diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and other cardiovascular problems.
One of the major contributing factors to lack of sleep, has surprisingly been unearthed by a recent study into TV viewing habits, and the effect that they have on the sleep patterns of thousands of volunteers.
Half the population watch TV just prior to going to bed
About half of us Watch TV during the late evening, in the preceding two hours before going to bed. This appears to be one of the main factors in us experiencing reduced quantity and quality of sleep. The problem appears to be linked to the psychology of watching a television program right up until the end of the show, not wishing to miss the end, without prior checks on what time the program was actually due to finish at the start.
This has the effect of delaying the time at which many people go to bed each evening, whilst most people’s waking time is fixed, and governed by work, educational or commuting requirements. The result is that television viewing is stealing sleep time from millions of individuals who end up in ’sleep deficit’.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that TV viewing is inherently sedentary, so not only is it robbing us of our sleep, it is also depriving us of much needed exercise and other physical or sporting activities.
What is the optimum amount of sleep ?
There is a lot of research about how many hours of sleep we need each day, and studies have shown that 7 hours sleep is the healthiest amount to have. However, if we are regularly getting 5 hours sleep per night or less, then we face a nearly three quarters increased risk of dying from all causes, and double the risk of dying specifically from cardiovascular causes.
What can be done about it ?
well, according to the American organisation – Associated Professional Sleep Society – we should be prepared to give up some of our television viewing time to pay back some sleep time, for the sake of our heart health, and other health related benefits.
Related article – sleep apnea is bad for heart health
