Lack of sleep and high blood pressure: the two are linked!

Don't let sleep delays accumulate! Scientists have just discovered that the risk of developing high blood pressure increases with decreasing sleep (June 2009).

A study has just revealed that adults who do not get enough sleep have an increased risk of developing high blood pressure.

For the past 5 years, Kristen L. Knutson of the University of Chicago and his colleagues gathered information on 578 adults in their 40s.
They measured their blood pressure, and the number of hours they slept. Sleep duration was measured in two ways: firstly by surveys and secondly by a sensor placed on the wrist of each participant which recorded the periods of rest and activity of these people.

Adults who slept a few hours less than the other participants in the study tended to have significantly higher blood pressure. Adults who got less sleep also tended to develop hypertension, over time, as time went on. At the end of 5 years, each hour less of sleep was associated with a 37% increase in the chance of developing high blood pressure or hypertension, according to the findings of the study published in the June 2009 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The amount of sleep per night for participants averaged 6 hours. Only 1% slept 8 hours or more per night.

"Identifying a new lifestyle risk factor, could lead us to new interventions to prevent or reduce hypertension problems," Prof. Knutson's team said. Laboratory studies of short-term sleep deprivation have suggested potential mechanisms for a causal link between sleep loss and hypertension.

High blood pressure is the cause of 7 million deaths worldwide each year, and the condition affects 1/3 of Americans.

The researchers also highlighted the fact that stress induced by sleep deprivation may also increase the risk of developing high blood pressure.

The study, which excluded patients taking medication for hypertension, also considered the different criteria of age, race, and gender. It also revealed that black men had higher blood pressure levels than white men or women.
In addition black men had a "natural" tendency to sleep a few hours less.

These two observations suggest the interesting possibility that the already well-documented hypertension in African Americans and in men in particular may well be due in part to sleep duration.


Sleep quality and quality of life: the two are linked!

HBE Diffusion, PANNE Carol 16 October, 2017
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