If you suffer from blood pressure
problems, you may want to think about getting a little more sleep on a
regular basis. Researchers from Harvard Medical School found that even
one extra hour of sleep may have a significant positive impact on your
blood pressure.
People witnessing early signs of high blood pressure can go back to healthy levels by adopting a simple trick, which is to go to bed an hour early. A study has concluded the above mentioned statement in the form of its findings.
The study researchers said that those, who slept an hour early, witnessed a decline in their blood pressure levels and that too within six weeks.
Experts said that they respect the study findings, but sometimes high-blood pressure does not get treated with bringing changes in lifestyle. Therefore, it gets vital to keep a check on blood-pressure levels and prevent all those things that can raise it.
High blood pressure (HBP) is a serious condition that can lead to coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, and other health problems.
"Blood pressure" is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood. If this pressure rises and stays high over time, it can damage the body in many ways.
About 1 in 3 adults in the United States has HBP. The condition itself usually has no signs or symptoms. You can have it for years without knowing it. During this time, though, HBP can damage your heart, blood vessels, kidneys, and other parts of your body.
Knowing your blood pressure numbers is important, even when you're feeling fine. If your blood pressure is normal, you can work with your health care team to keep it that way. If your blood pressure is too high, treatment may help prevent damage to your body's organs.
Blood pressure is measured as systolic (sis-TOL-ik) and diastolic (di-ah-STOL-ik) pressures. "Systolic" refers to blood pressure when the heart beats while pumping blood. "Diastolic" refers to blood pressure when the heart is at rest between beats.
You most often will see blood pressure numbers written with the systolic number above or before the diastolic number, such as 120/80 mmHg. (The mmHg is millimeters of mercury—the units used to measure blood pressure.)
Blood pressure changes throughout the day; it is lower when you sleep
and increases when you’re active. Blood pressure involves two
different measures – systolic (top number) which is your blood pressure
when your heart is pumping blood and diastolic (bottom number) which is
your blood pressure when your heart is at rest in between beats.
Optimal blood pressure is 120/80mmHg or lower. Pre-hypertension is
120-139/80-89mmHg. Pre-hypertension means that your blood pressure is
not optimal and you may be at risk for developing blood pressure
problems in the future if you don’t take steps to prevent it. Stage 1
hypertension is 140-159/90-99mmHg and Stage 2 hypertension is 160 or
above/100 or above Researchers from Harvard Medical School studied 22 men and women who
either had pre-hypertension or stage 1 hypertension and who also
regularly slept 7 hours or less for a period of six weeks. The
participants were either assigned to a sleep extension group (aiming to
increase their sleep by 1 hour each day) or a sleep maintenance group
(aiming to go to bed at the same time every day). Blood pressure
measurements as well as blood and urine samples were taken at the start
and end of the study.
Participants that were in the sleep extension group managed to
increase their daily sleep by 35 minutes, on average; while those in the
sleep maintenance group increased their daily sleep time by 4 minutes,
on average. The systolic and diastolic pressures of the participants
in the sleep extension group decreased significantly (on average by
14mmHg and 8mmHg). The individuals in the sleep maintenance group also
saw a reduction in their systolic (7mmHg average) and diastolic (3mmHg
average) pressures, although their decreases were not significant. The
researchers concluded that an extra hour of sleep can have a significant
effect on blood pressure for individuals suffering from
pre-hypertension or stage 1 hypertension.
It’s important to keep in mind that while this was an extremely small
study, with only 22 participants, it does provide insight into a
possible new treatment approach for individuals with blood pressure
problems. Increasing the amount of sleep may compliment other lifestyle
changes (diet and exercise changes) that are often recommended to these
individuals. Future research should include larger studies that look
at whether sleep is a possible additional treatment option for
individuals that have blood pressure problems.
If you’re looking to steer clear of blood pressure problems, now and
in the future, in addition to making changes to your sleep pattern as
this recent study suggest you should do, Harvard Men’s Health Watch recommends that you also do the following:
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Eat a healthy, balanced diet
- Reduce your sodium intake
- Don’t smoke
- Monitor your blood pressure at home
- Drink alcohol in moderation
- Take the right blood pressure medication, in the right dose
source:
bel merra health News
www.nhlbi.nih.gov
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