Insomniacs Beware of High Blood Pressure

If you’re not sleeping well, it may be tempting to accept insomnia as a natural part of aging or the inevitable product of an active mind – but don’t ignore problems sleeping. Sleeplessness can have a profound impact on other aspects of your health, including your blood pressure.

That’s the message coming from researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and the College of Physicians and Surgeons. In a September 2009 study, published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers analyzed health information on over 4,800 men and women who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES 1). Remarkably, 24% of people ages 32 to 59 who slept five or fewer hours nightly went on to develop high blood pressure (hypertension) over a period of 8 to 10 years, compared to about half as many people who slept 7 to 8 hours per night.

It’s important to note that many people with poor sleep habits also had other risk factors for hypertension such as obesity, diabetes, smoking and lack of exercise – but this doesn’t discount the impact of sleep. Researchers controlled for these other factors and found that sleep had an “independent effect” on blood pressure. This suggests that even if you do everything else right (e.g., eat well, exercise, drink moderately, cut salt, and not smoke) you could still develop hypertension as a result of poor sleep; and this is all the more reason to talk to your doctor.

Source: Healthcommunities