New Delhi, August 29: Those who sleep less than seven hours at night need to be careful now, because this can make you a victim of high blood pressure (BP). According to a study by the Department of Medicine of Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC), the possibility of high BP increases by 10 to 13 percent in those who sleep less than seven hours at night.
The aim of this study was to find out the effect of sleep on the fluctuations of blood pressure in young adults below the age of 40 years. For this, 60 such participants were selected from the OPD of a hospital associated with LHMC who sleep more or less than the normal night time and who had no history of high blood pressure and diabetes.
For the study, the participants were divided into two groups (30 each) with altered sleep patterns (irregular sleep and wake times) and unchanged sleep patterns (sleeping and waking up at regular times). Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) equipment was used to measure blood pressure (BP) and check daily variations in the people in both the groups. 24-hour monitoring was done through ABPM, which measured and recorded the BP levels of the participants every one hour during the day and every 2 hours at night.
The researchers found that the people whose sleep pattern had changed had an increase of 3-6 mm Hg in their BP level of 120/80 mm Hg while awake. At the same time, their BP increased by 5-8 mm Hg while sleeping, that is, an overall increase of 3-7 mm Hg was recorded in 24 hours.
This study has been conducted by a team of Dr Mukul Prasun, Dr Ramesh Agarwal and Dr. Subbalakshmi Mardhekar under the leadership of Department Head Dr Anupam Prakash.
Dr Anupam Prakash said that an increase of 1 mm Hg i.e. one point in blood pressure, even though seems small, increases the risk of heart disease, as high blood pressure (HBP) is a major cause of cardiovascular problems.
He said that high blood pressure puts pressure on the heart and blood vessels, which over time can lead to atherosclerosis (plaque accumulation), coronary artery disease, heart failure, heart attack and brain stroke. The risk of heart disease increases steadily with increasing high BP readings, so any increase in BP is a matter of concern. Doctors can use the findings of this study to counsel patients and tell them about the ‘impact of sleep patterns on blood pressure control’. They can also encourage them to adopt healthy sleep habits.
Dr Prakash said that according to another study, every 10 mm Hg reduction in systolic blood pressure reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events by 20 percent, coronary heart disease by 17 percent, stroke by 27 percent, and heart failure by 28 percent, leading to a significant reduction in all-cause mortality by 13 percent in the population studied. That is, the level of BP which increases by 3-7 mm Hg due to poor sleep, can be reduced or even normal by 10 mm Hg by sleeping well and you can protect your body from various serious diseases. That is, the less you sleep, the more likely you are to have high blood pressure in the future.
Dr Anupam Prakash said that sleep is the most natural and powerful way of self-care. There is no doubt that good sleep is important for our health, and this study is another proof of this. He said, high blood pressure increases diseases like heart disease, stroke, dementia and kidney damage.