Heart bypass surgery is one of the crucial surgeries. It is done to prevent heart damage and secure the health of the patient. There are many issues that a person may suffer after the surgery where trouble sleeping or insomnia is highly common amongst all. Most patients experience insomnia symptoms after the surgery which hampers their overall health. Some people take sleep medications but they may cause side-effects in the long run. Morning exercises such as aerobics and morning walks can ease the condition. Find the details below.
Exercising and Sleep
According to a research published in the scientific journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), doing light exercises in the morning can help get a restful sleep at night. After heart bypass surgery, patients often experience insomnia-like issues. Performing light aerobic exercises in the morning can help in relieving the condition.
Lead author of this study Dr. Hady Atef of Cairo University, Egypt said, “Many patients have trouble sleeping after heart bypass surgery. When this persists beyond six months it exacerbates the heart condition and puts patients at risk of having to repeat the surgery. It is therefore of utmost importance to find ways to improve sleep after bypass surgery.”
In general, we find doctors saying that physical exertion helps in sleeping better. This is also true in the case of heart patients but they should do light-intensity exercises that they like to exert the body and de-stress the mind at the same time.
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The Research
Several studies have been done in the past to find the effect of exercising on sleep. But they didn’t involve functional capacity(the ability for activity) which is likely to decline post-surgery.
This research was done on about 80 heart bypass surgery patients aged between 45 to 65 years and facing sleep issues with decreased functional capacity. Three tests were conducted which includes:
- Functional capacity test
- Sleep quality test
- Actigraph test to monitor rest
It was found that most people faced insomnia in the night but slept throughout the day. Then, they were divided into two exercise groups to find an effective way to deal with insomnia.
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"Our recommendation for heart bypass patients with difficulty sleeping and performing their usual activities is to do aerobic exercise only. We think that resistance exercise requires a high level of exertion for these patients. This may induce the release of stress hormones that negatively affect sleep," said Dr. Atef.
"Aerobic exercise means physical activity that does not require a very high level of exertion. Choose an activity you enjoy like walking, cycling, or swimming. Aim for 30 to 45 minutes and do it in the morning because research shows this releases the hormone melatonin which helps us sleep well at night," he concluded.
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