Sleep and menopause: take care of your sleep to protect your heart and arteries!

Taking care of your heart as a woman also means taking care of your sleep, especially during the menopause.
Dr. Catherine Lamblin, pulmonologist and ambassador for Agir pour le Coeur des Femmes, gives you essential advice on how to detect and manage sleep disorders, which are more frequent during this key hormonal phase in a woman's life.

It has now been demonstrated that short sleep duration or poor sleep quality is a major cardiovascular risk factor, in particular for arterial hypertension (i.e. blood pressure > or = 140/90 mm Hg in consultation /> or + 135/85 mm Hg in self-measurement).
Menopause is the stage most frequently associated with long-lasting sleep disorders in women, impacting not only their quality of life but also their cardiovascular health. Around 1 in 2 women are affected by sleep disorders around menopause.
While it's commonplace to report flushing during the menopause, it really does affect sleep quality, causing repeated awakenings during the night. The frequency of sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome and insomnia increases dramatically around the menopause. Female hormones play a protective role, particularly in sleep apnea syndrome, by stimulating nocturnal ventilation and pharyngeal muscle tone. With the onset of menopause and the associated hormonal decline, the frequency of sleep apnea syndrome increases significantly.
Agir pour le cœur des femmes strengthens synergistic partnerships between doctors from different specialties, so that we can listen to and detect sleep disorders in women around the time of menopause. There are simple, effective solutions for managing these sleep disorders. Let's not forget to insist on a preventive lifestyle, which is also effective against these sleep disorders, with a balanced diet rich in fiber, low in salt and with reduced alcohol consumption; regular physical activity of at least 30 minutes a day; smoking cessation and, if you have a bad night's sleep, the practice of a short 20-minute nap to repair these sleep debts.
If you have a sleep problem, talk to your doctor, who will be able to advise you.
1 reference
Sleep in Women Across the Life Span. Martino F Pengo , Christine H Won, Ghada Bourjeily . DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2018.04.005

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