Less Sleep Could Lead to Hypertension

Sleeping less than 5 hours a night could be an important risk factor for developing hypertension. Researchers performed a longitudinal analysis of the first National Health and Nutrition Examination survey (n=4810) and a series of follow-ups over a 10-year period, from 1982–1992. They found that 647 of the subjects had developed hypertension and that short sleep duration was associated with an increased risk for hypertension for those subjects between the ages of 32 and 59. Even after controlling for obesity and diabetes, the relationship was still statistically significant. Researchers hypothesize that if less sleep results in high blood pressure, then perhaps the opposite may be true as well. Further research should concentrate on finding a link between the amount and quality of sleep, and reduction or prevention of hypertension. The study was published in the online version of Hypertension. http://hyper.ahajournals.org