Sleep alert as a common nighttime habit linked to high blood pressure

Experts have warned about sleep as a common nighttime habit has been linked to a dangerous health condition. A new study has found an increased risk between waking up during the night and high blood pressure.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, occurs when the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. This means that the heart has to pump harder than normal to keep blood flowing through the body.

Over time, this can cause damage to the organs and blood vessels. It is also a risk factor for a number of other health problems, such as heart attacks and strokes.

Therefore, it is important to keep your blood pressure within healthy levels if possible. Several things can affect your blood pressure, including your age, your weight, smoking, alcohol, genetics, and diet.

But now research has shed light on the link between your sleep habits and blood pressure. A study published in Sleep diaryResearch showed that men who woke up more often after falling asleep had higher blood pressure than men who woke up less often.

But this association was not found in women. Instead, it was found that women who spent less time in deep sleep had higher blood pressure than women who spent more time in this stage.

This was the first time that the relationship between sleep and blood pressure was analyzed in relation to gender. “Sleep is critical to overall health and well-being,” says Marishka Brown, director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research at NHLBI.

“Research is beginning to reveal how sleep characteristics, such as the time spent in each sleep stage or how often a person wakes up during the night, contribute to blood pressure control, as well as how sex and gender can influence these outcomes, but we still have unanswered questions. “

One of the study’s authors, Kristen Knutson, continued: ‘We know that sleep is extremely important for heart health. So we’re trying to learn more about this connection, and also how sleep might relate to the sex differences we see in cardiovascular disease. disease.”

As part of the study, researchers conducted home sleep studies on more than 1,100 adults in Brazil who did not have moderate to severe sleep apnea. The study participants ranged in age from 18 to 91 years old, and 64 percent identified as female.

As reported by Science dailyThey recorded one night’s sleep using a diagnostic test that measures various bodily functions, such as brain waves and heart rate during sleep, using sensors placed throughout the body. In the morning they took blood pressure measurements and fasting blood samples to measure lipid levels.

More specifically, these levels were total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides. The team found differences in blood pressure when comparing the sleep experiences of only men and only women, and also when comparing men and women.

However, researchers admitted some drawbacks to the study. For example, they don’t take multiple time points for sleep and blood pressure, so they couldn’t determine whether at any point someone got more or less sleep, or woke up during the night, blood pressure actually improved or worsened.

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They said future studies should test whether altering these sleep stages in men and women leads to changes in blood pressure levels. Ms Brown added: “This study suggests that a better understanding of how specific sleep characteristics could lead to more targeted strategies to help both women and men protect their hearts. Studies such as these continue to reiterate the critical nature of sleep in the clinical management of hypertension.”

According to the NHS, adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night.