As Halloween rolls around, it’s easy to indulge in extra sweets — after all, who can resist a few chocolate bars or gummy lollies? But while a sugar rush might seem harmless, the effects of added sugar extend well beyond your waistline. Research suggests that too much sugar can disturb your sleep and increase your risk of heart disease — a truly spooky combination for your health.
Around one in five Australians work shifts outside the standard nine-to-five. From hospital wards to warehouses, shift work keeps our world running — but it can take a serious toll on the body, especially the heart
We often think of sleep as a time to rest, but it’s also one of the most powerful tools for protecting your heart. Consistent, good-quality sleep helps your body recover, regulate hormones, and keep your blood pressure in check. When your sleep is cut short or irregular, those systems go off balance — and over time, that can raise your risk of developing high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.
One of the strongest links to sleep apnea is obesity. In fact, some studies suggest that 60-90% of people with sleep apnea are overweight or obese. Carrying extra weight around the neck and abdomen can narrow the airway, making it harder to breathe normally at night. This relationship between sleep apnea and obesity goes both ways. Obesity not only raises the risk of sleep apnea, but sleep apnea itself can make it harder to lose weight.
Sleep is meant to be the body’s time to rest and repair — but for people with sleep apnea, it can become a nightly struggle that puts more than just rest at risk. Sleep apnea is a common sleep-related breathing disorder where a person’s breathing repeatedly slows or stops throughout the night. Over time, these interruptions can take a serious toll on the body, including raising the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes — and even stroke.
It’s a common belief that the older you get, the less sleep you need. But that’s simply not true. Older adults actually need about the same amount of sleep as everyone else — around seven to nine hours a night.1 What often changes with age isn’t the need for sleep, but the pattern of sleep. Many older people tend to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier than they did in their younger years.
If you’ve ever felt guilty for taking an afternoon nap, thinking it might throw your sleep schedule out of balance, here’s some good news — napping doesn’t automatically ruin your night’s rest. In fact, when timed and managed well, a short daytime snooze can be one of the best ways to recharge your body and mind.
We’ve all heard that getting enough sleep is key to good health — but too much of a good thing can sometimes backfire. While a solid night’s rest is essential for your body and mind, regularly sleeping for more than nine hours could be a sign that something’s off.
It’s tempting to believe that a weekend sleep-in can erase a week of late nights and early alarms. After all, you might average the recommended seven to nine hours if you count those extra hours on Saturday and Sunday, right? Unfortunately, sleep science says otherwise.
