Those who cannot sleep have to deal with this problem. Limit screen time, get more exercise, and go to bed earlier, experts warn. Blackout curtains, earplugs, and other conventional treatments don’t always work. Black Americans sleep worse than whites, sometimes for reasons beyond their control. Medical professionals must explain sleep in the context of a person’s life and environment. Lack of sleep
Sleep disparities due to social and environmental factors
Societal and environmental factors contribute to sleep variability, says Mercedes Carneson, deputy chief of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and an expert on racial inequalities in cardiovascular disease. thinking about. Lack of sleep has many effects. Lack of sleep is associated with heart disease. If more people got enough sleep, heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, could decline.
Lauren Hale, professor of preventive medicine and sleep behavior expert at Stoney Brook Medicine, believes that getting everyone a good night’s sleep can help narrow racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in cardiometabolic disease. said to be sexual. In 2020, he had 229 Bucks per 100,000 people die from heart disease, compared to 170 for whites. Some studies suggest that at least half of the racial disparities in cardiometabolic disease risk are related to sleep patterns.
Hale says sleep hygiene advice ignores systemic disparities. “Sleep research must be transformed into a scalable and sustainable medicine,” she adds.
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Structural racism underlying sleep inequalities
Sleep is difficult to study because it occurs outside the laboratory. Sleep is multifaceted, says Kristen Knutson of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The length, quality and timing of your sleep affect your health. According to the CDC, a third of her Americans sleep less than seven hours each night. You may miss many nighttime awakenings.
Despite the ubiquity of normal sleep disorders, “sleep medicine has generally focused on clinical sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia,” says Natasha of NYU. “These conditions are easier to diagnose and treat than sleep disorders,” says Williams. Race and socioeconomic status are important in the detection and treatment of serious diseases. This overarching strategy ignores millions of people, especially black people, who are at risk of cardiometabolic disease and death from lack of sleep.
Racism affects sleep.
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Reduces chances of restoring sleep and cardiovascular health
It is difficult to separate sleep from other factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease, such as diet, exercise, and weight. Unhealthy habits go hand in hand. Lack of sleep interferes with exercise and healthy nutrition. Unhealthy diet and activities cause sleep deprivation and perpetuate the vicious cycle. Loops may accelerate cardiometabolic deterioration. Lack of sleep increases the risk of obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes among blacks. Each of these conditions causes sleep disturbances. People with diabetes may wake up during the night to urinate. This can get worse and create new disorders.
Dana Johnson, associate professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, studies sleep inequalities and cardiovascular disease. Racism impairs sleep and heart health. Experts argue that chronic stress impairs sleep. Socioeconomic factors, interpersonal stress, racism, and prejudice can affect sleep. Racial and ethnic sleep disparities are driven by heightened vigilance, fear of discrimination and abuse, and suspicion of neighbors. To get a good night’s sleep, you need to be relaxed and not overly alert.
Not all races benefit from affluence. Wealthy people sleep better. High-income, well-educated black people sleep for
