Does drinking water before bed prevent heart attacks?

My cousin sent me this post via Facebook and I thought I should check it out, to see if it was true.  I checked with Hoax Slayer and their information is in italics. 

My name is Alexander, I am a cardiologist and a paramedic.

The supposed cardiologist is not fully named and the message contains no references. And the information did not come from the Mayo Clinic as claimed in some versions of the message. 

 A very important warning for those who wake up at night to go to the bathroom...You must be careful with the " One-and-a-Half-minute law " that is scientifically proven " by waking up suddenly " to make your physiological needs normally, you hear that someone " was well in health and died suddenly during the night without Reason ". the most likely reason is that when that person woke up to go to the bathroom, she got up from bed in a hurry, right now, the brain needs greater blood flow, for having rested, causing a state of fainting there The stroke happens...

In this case, it is recommended to learn the " One-and-a-Half-minute law " which is:

When you wake up to go to the bathroom, you must first: " lie down for 30 seconds after waking up " and then " sit in bed for 30 more seconds ", lower your legs quietly and " sit on the End of bed for another 30 seconds " and only then get up to go to the bathroom.

With these steps, the chances are gigantic to survive a sudden stroke, regardless of age...

This is an old viral message, yet it came recently once again in social media. There is no information to support the claim or there are no incidents to provide truth to the message that rising from bed too quickly result in a stroke or sudden death. However many people though feel dizzy some times when they wake up suddenly from a place where they are sitting or sleeping.

As per mayoclinic, Orthostatic hypotension — also called postural hypotension — is a form of low blood pressure that happens when you stand up from sitting or lying down. Orthostatic hypotension can make you feel dizzy or lightheaded, and maybe even faint.

Orthostatic hypotension may be mild and last for less than a few minutes. However, long-lasting orthostatic hypotension can signal more serious problems, so it's important to see a doctor if you frequently feel lightheaded when standing up.

So this is just a myth that drinking water before and after bed can prevent heart attack

Water effect on the body. We know that water is important but you never knew the right time to drink!

Did you know?

Drinking water in the correct time maximizes the effectiveness of the human body  

However, there is no credible evidence to suggest that drinking water at certain times of the day will provide the particular health benefits specified in this message. Staying well hydrated can help maintain overall health and may thereby help avoid serious health outcomes such as heart attacks and stroke. But, this is true at any time of the day. The supposed cardiologist is not named and the message contains no references

A glass of water after waking up helps activate internal organs...This claim is virtually meaningless. What specific internal organs is it referring to? And one would hope that our organs continue to be active even when we sleep. If not, then a glass of water is unlikely to help us. Given that, after waking, we might not have had liquids for several hours, drinking water early in the morning may help rehydrate us and make us feel better

A glass of water 30 minutes before a meal helps digestion.

Drinking a glass of water 30 minutes before a meal is unlikely to have much effect at all on digestion. Water passes through your system quite quickly, so it is doubtful that one glass of water 30 minutes before eating would still be around in enough quantities and at the required point in the food digestion process to be of any significant help. In fact, even when water is taken with the meal itself, its impact on digestion is not likely to be very significant. Moreover, unless you have specific health problems or have a very poor diet, your body is likely to do a terrific job of digesting your food without any water at all. An article about the issue on boston.com notes:

Dr. Braden Kuo, director of the GI Motility Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, says that drinking water is not necessary for digesting food, because the body is very efficient at secreting and reabsorbing its own fluids. At the first stage of digestion, drinking water can simply make it easier to swallow food, since most of us have difficulty swallowing when our food is not sufficiently moistened with saliva.

When the food reaches the stomach, water “may help to some degree, but its impact is moderate to minimal,’’ he says. He adds that having some extra fluid in the mix may help smooth the digestive process for those with constipation

A glass of water before showering helps lower blood pressure.

Drinking water before a bath – or at any other time for that matter – does NOT lower blood pressure. Biomedical researcher Judith Airey, Ph.D. notes:

"So the bottom line is that, generally, increasing the amount of water that is consumed will not increase the amount of sodium lost by the  blood, so blood pressure will not be lowered."

In fact, drinking water can actually cause a very short term increase in blood pressure in some people, particularly those with some types of very low blood pressure. This is only temporary and has no long term impact on blood pressure.

Keeping hydrated is good for health, but overhydration has no benefit for lowering blood pressure.

Other medical sources also concur that water can raise rather than lower blood pressure. A Vanderbilt University Medical Center newsletter article explains:

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have shown that ordinary water — without any additives — does more than just quench thirst. It has some other unexpected, physiological effects. It increases the activity of the sympathetic — fight or flight — nervous system, which raises alertness, blood pressure and energy expenditure.

David Robertson, M.D., and colleagues first observed water’s curious ability to increase blood pressure about 10 years ago, in patients who had lost their baroreflexes — the system that keeps blood pressure within a normal range.

Moreover, unless you have significant problems with hypertension, why would it be necessary to lower your blood pressure before having an ordinary bath? In fact, soaking in a hot tub may actually lower the blood pressure of healthy people. So, it is difficult to see any health benefit at all in lowering your blood pressure before having a bath. Given that a hot bath might lower your pressure anyway, taking steps that cause your blood pressure to go even lower might actually have negative health impacts for some people. And, in an article titled “Hot Tub and Sauna Use and High Blood Pressure”, the American Heart Association notes:

"Hot tubs and saunas pose no risk to healthy people as long as they are not misused. People with high blood pressure should tolerate saunas well as long as they are not experiencing a hypertensive crisis."

A glass of water before sleeping avoids stroke or heart attack

Ah, if only life was so simple. Of all the claims in the message, this is the most nonsensical. If preventing strokes and heart attacks were as simple as drinking water before bed, those duel killers and maimers would be pretty much a thing of the past. The supposed remedy is not listed on any credible heart or stroke prevention website. The claim is inaccurate and misleading. Drinking a glass of water before going to bed certainly will not prevent a heart attack or stroke.

But, again, drinking water and staying well hydrated throughout the day can help keep you healthier and perhaps make it a little less likely that you will have a heart attack or stroke. The American Heart Association notes:

Keeping the body hydrated helps the heart more easily pump blood through the blood vessels to the muscles. And, it helps the muscles remove waste so that they can work efficiently.

“If you’re well hydrated, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard,” said John Batson, M.D, a sports medicine physician with Lowcountry Spine & Sport in Hilton Head Island, S.C., and an American Heart Association volunteer.

Dehydration can be a serious condition that can lead to problems ranging from swollen feet or a headache to life-threatening illnesses such as heat stroke.

The message claims that the information comes from a cardiac specialist. However, the alleged specialist is not identified. Nor does the message reference any credible medical sources to support its claims. The message is reminiscent of other spurious health tips that circulate via email, just be aware and check things out before you circulate.