The optimal bedtime for reducing your risk of stroke and heart attack

There appears to be a link between going to bed between 10pm and 11pm and heart health, British researchers have found.

Researchers studied the sleep habits of 88,000 people and believe synchronising sleep to match the internal body clock could explain why going to sleep between 10pm and 11pm reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke.

But study author, Dr David Plans, who is head of research and scientific dissemination at Huma, said the finding isn’t cause for very early risers like Ross and Russel to despair.

“We found an association between people who fell asleep between 10 and 11 and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean that going to sleep at that time is going to save anybody, it simply means that quite likely people who went to sleep at a reasonable hour at night have a better chance of getting sunlight into their eyes in the morning.

“The eyes have ocular receptors that reset the circadian clock and not resetting that clock has serious health consequences.”

Dr Plans said it pays off to get out into the morning sunlight, even if you’ve had a bad night’s sleep.

“Over time you’ll be much less tired,” he said.

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