These latest findings may be an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to understanding the pathway through which sleep impacts overall cardiovascular health.
A bad night’s sleep may not only make you feel tired and irritable, but may also result in a spike in blood pressure level that night and the following day, according to new research led by the University of Arizona, US.
The study, which set out to learn more about the link between poor sleep and cardiovascular health problems, studied 300 men and women aged 21 to 70, with no history of heart problems. For two consecutive days, the participants wore portable blood pressure cuffs during the daytime which randomly noted their blood pressure during 45-minute intervals, and also overnight.
At night, participants wore actigraphy monitors – wristwatch-like devices that measure movement – to help determine their “sleep efficiency,” or the amount of time spent sleeping soundly.
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Overall, those who had lower sleep efficiency showed an increase in blood pressure during that restless night. They also had higher systolic blood pressure – the top number in a patient’s blood pressure reading – the next day.
“Blood pressure is one of the best predictors of cardiovascular health,” said lead study author Caroline Doyle, a graduate student in the UA Department of Psychology. “There is a lot of literature out there that shows sleep has some kind of impact on mortality and on cardiovascular disease, which is the No. 1 killer of people in US. We wanted to see if we could try to get a piece of that story — how sleep might be impacting disease through blood pressure.”
The study which is to be published in Psychosomatic Medicine reinforces the importance of a good night’s sleep. It’s not just the amount of time you spend in bed, but the quality of sleep you’re getting, said study co-author John Ruiz, UA associate professor of psychology.
“Improving sleep quality can start with making simple changes and being proactive,” Ruiz said.
“Keep the phone in a different room,” he suggested. “If your bedroom window faces the east, pull the shades. For anything, that’s going to cause you to waken, think ahead about what you can do to mitigate those effects.”
Also Read: Exercise may boost quality, duration of sleep in teens: Study
For those with chronic sleep troubles, Doyle advocates cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, or CBTI, which focuses on making behavioral changes to improve sleep health. CBTI is slowly gaining traction in the medical field and is recommended by both the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine as the first line of treatment for insomnia.
Doyle and Ruiz say they hope their findings — showing the impact even one fitful night’s rest can have on the body — will help illuminate just how critical sleep is for heart health.
“This study stands on the shoulders of a broad literature looking at sleep and cardiovascular health,” Doyle said. “This is one more study that shows something is going on with sleep and our heart health. Sleep is important, so whatever you can do to improve your sleep, it’s worth prioritising.”
The link between poor sleep and cardiovascular health problems is increasingly well-established in scientific literature, but the reason for the relationship is less understood. Yet, these latest findings may be an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to understanding the pathway through which sleep impacts overall cardiovascular health.
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