Reduce Your Chances for Stroke, Heart Attack and Early Death

Written by Dr. Karl R.O.S. Johnson, DC | Tue, May 13, 2025

Warning: Ignoring This One Habit Could Lead to Serious Health Consequences (Stroke, Heart Attack, and Early Death)

Guest post by Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., DACBN, MS, CFMP

The #1 Health Risk Most People Never Notice — Until It Leads to Serious Disease (And How to Avoid It)

When working toward your fitness or lifestyle goals, it's easy to focus only on exercise and diet.

But there's another key piece of the puzzle you can't afford to overlook: SLEEP

Good nutrition and regular exercise build the foundation of health.

Neglecting sleep can silently tear it down — often without symptoms until serious disease develops.

When life gets busy with work, family, and training, sleep often gets sacrificed first.

Missing a few hours here and there might not seem like a big deal — but over time, that "sleep debt" builds into real biological damage.

Unchecked sleep deprivation can silently drive the development of:

Heart disease and hypertension
Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome
Obesity
Depression, anxiety, and mental health disorders
Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline
Suppressed immunity and increased cancer risk
Stroke and early death

Sleep disorders and poor sleep habits are extremely common — but they are not harmless.

According to the National Sleep Foundation:

40 million Americans struggle with chronic sleep disorders

60% of adults report sleep problems several nights per week

Yet many people still underestimate sleep — until the consequences catch up.

The Science: Why Sleep Matters So Much

Modern research shows that sleep powers every major system in your body.

It's the time your body performs critical repair processes that cannot happen when you are awake.

Here's why protecting your sleep is protecting your life:

1. Boosts Physical Recovery and Performance

During DEEP sleep, your body:

Repairs and rebuilds muscle fibers after exercise
Strengthens bones
Restores hormone levels (like growth hormone and testosterone)
Balances blood sugar and insulin
Regulates blood pressure and heart rate
Strengthens immune function to fight infection and disease

Without deep sleep, your body remains in a low-grade inflammatory state.

Over time, this fuels chronic disease, weakens your recovery from injuries, and accelerates aging.

2. Sharpens Memory and Cognitive Function

During REM sleep, your brain:

Consolidates short-term memories into long-term memory
Clears metabolic waste (such as amyloid-beta linked to Alzheimer's)
Recharges your ability to focus, solve problems, and think clearly
Enhances creativity and emotional regulation

Without enough REM sleep, you become vulnerable to memory lapses, impaired judgment, slower thinking, mood swings, and eventually cognitive diseases.

3. Protects Mental Health and Emotional Stability

Healthy sleep stabilizes neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which control mood, motivation, and resilience to stress.

In contrast, chronic poor sleep:

Doubles the risk of depression and generalized anxiety disorder
Raises cortisol levels (your stress hormone)
Increases risk of emotional volatility, panic attacks, and even suicidal ideation

One study found that people who consistently sleep fewer than 6 hours per night have a 300% higher risk of developing depression.

It's Not Just About Hours — It's About Quality: Deep and REM Sleep

Sleeping 7–8 hours is meaningless if your Deep and REM sleep are disrupted.

Here's why these stages matter so much:

Deep Sleep (Slow Wave Sleep):

Physical repair, immune strength, hormone restoration, blood pressure regulation, inflammation control

REM Sleep (Rapid Eye Movement Sleep):

Emotional processing, memory building, brain detoxification, stress resilience, creativity

Without enough Deep and REM sleep, your body and brain stay inflamed, stressed, and vulnerable — even if you technically "sleep" 8 hours.

Consequences of Poor Deep and REM Sleep

1. Cardiovascular Damage
Low deep sleep increases blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and heart attack risk by as much as 48%.

2. Rapid Cognitive Decline
Chronic REM deprivation triples your risk for Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

3. Uncontrolled Weight Gain and Diabetes
Lack of quality sleep worsens insulin resistance, increases belly fat storage, and boosts cravings for sugar and processed foods.

4. Weakened Immune Defense
Even a few nights of disrupted sleep lower natural killer (NK) cell activity, increasing vulnerability to infections — and even cancer.

5. Emotional Instability and Mental Health Risks
Reduced REM sleep disrupts emotional regulation, increasing your risk of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and social withdrawal.

6. Increased Mortality
Several large studies show that people with consistently poor sleep have a 30–50% higher risk of early death — often from cardiovascular events, cancers, or metabolic diseases.

How to Dramatically Improve Deep and REM Sleep

The good news: Deep and REM sleep are highly responsive to simple daily changes.

1. Create a Consistent Sleep-Wake Schedule
Set a fixed bedtime and wake time (even on weekends).
Your brain craves rhythm. Sleep quality improves dramatically when your circadian rhythm stays consistent.

2. Eliminate Evening Light Exposure
Turn off phones, computers, TVs, and bright lights at least 60–90 minutes before bed.
Use dim lights, candles, or amber glasses if needed.

3. Reduce Evening Stress
Meditation, deep breathing, prayer, gratitude journaling, or stretching lowers cortisol and allows melatonin (your sleep hormone) to rise naturally.

High evening cortisol directly blocks Deep and REM sleep stages.

4. Keep the Bedroom Cool, Dark, and Silent
Ideal temperature: 65–68°F (18–20°C)
Use blackout curtains, white noise machines, and remove electronics.

5. Be Strategic with Caffeine, Alcohol, and Meals

No caffeine after 2 p.m.
Minimize alcohol, which fragments sleep architecture
Finish eating 2–3 hours before bedtime to avoid late-night blood sugar spikes.

6. Track and Personalize Your Sleep Strategy
Use tools like WHOOP to monitor:

Total sleep time
Time in Deep and REM sleep
Sleep debt accumulation
Heart rate variability (HRV) and recovery scores

Personalized data helps you identify exactly what improves or damages your sleep quality.

Small Changes, Massive Results

Protecting your Deep and REM sleep unlocks:

Faster muscle recovery
Sharper memory and learning
Better mood and emotional strength
Lower disease risk
Longer, healthier lifespan

Take Control of Your Health Through Better Sleep

Sleep is not a luxury — it is essential life support.
Protecting your sleep is protecting your heart, your brain, your metabolism, and your future.

Prioritize quality sleep — maximize your Deep and REM cycles — and unlock the healthiest, strongest, most energized version of yourself.

Dr. Grisanti's Comments:

A little while ago, I hit a wall.

I was falling asleep at church, at conferences — places where I wanted to be fully present. My blood pressure was climbing, and no matter what I tried, I just didn't feel well. Deep down, I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Then I started using a WHOOP watch. And what it revealed shocked me:
I was living in severe sleep debt.
My body had been running on empty for far too long.

Seeing those numbers made it real. It wasn't just "in my head" — my body was pleading for help. That moment was a turning point. I made a decision: No more ignoring the signs. I was going to fight for my health.

I got serious about my sleep. I tracked every metric. I restructured my nights. And one of the most powerful tools I found along the way was the Binaural Beats Healing Sleep app:

Brainwaves Frequency Generator 4+
Binaural Beats & Sound Machine
by AirByte Technology Co., Ltd.

Delta waves, especially around 3 Hz, help deepen your sleep — pulling you into the kind of rest that heals. Theta waves (4–8 Hz) fuel REM sleep, where emotional processing and vivid dreams unfold. Listening to these frequencies became part of my nightly rhythm.

Since then, everything has changed.
My sleep quality has soared.
My blood pressure has dropped.
I wake up energized, clear-minded, more focused and ready to tackle the day

If you're feeling exhausted or off balance and you can't explain why, I encourage you: start tracking. Tools like WHOOP can be a wake-up call — not just showing you what's wrong, but empowering you to heal.

And just so you know: I don't get a dime from sharing this. I recommend WHOOP simply because it helped me change my life — and maybe, it can help you too.

Please spread the word and inspire others to take control of their health and wellness.

To learn more, check out what makes my philosophy unique among healthcare providers.

Always remember one of my mantras, "The more you know about how your body works, the better you can take care of yourself."

For more details about the natural approach I take with my patients, take a look at the book I wrote entitled: Reclaim Your Life; Your Guide To Revealing Your Body's Life-Changing Secrets For Renewed Health. It is available in my office or at Amazon and many other book outlets. If you found value in this article, please use the social sharing icons at the top of this post and please share with those you know who are still suffering with chronic health challenges, despite receiving medical management. Help me reach more people so they may regain their zest for living! Thank you!

ALL THE BEST – DR. KARL R.O.S. JOHNSON, DC – DIGGING DEEPER TO FIND SOLUTIONS

References:

** Always consult with a physician or healthcare practitioner with significant integrative or functional medicine training before starting any of the above recommendations.

This article was contributed by Functional Medicine University

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