There is a positive correlation between getting less than seven and a half hours' sleep and increased risk of developing heart disease.

Less than seven and a half hours' sleep 'could increase risk of heart attack'
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"High blood pressure increases the risk of developing heart disease, which can lead to damage in the arteries and place strain on the heart.

An estimated one third of Britons, some 16 million people, are thought to suffer from high blood pressure.

It is more common in older people and an estimated half of all people over 65 suffer from the condition.

Scientists followed the sleep patterns of 1,255 people, with an average age of 70, who suffered from high blood pressure for more than four years.

They found that those who slept less than 7.5 hours a night, and whose blood pressure increased overnight, were 25 per cent more likely to suffer from heart disease."

All of the health problems mentioned in the article are exacerbated by high salt intake and reduced in incidence and severity when salt and salty food are avoided.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods