Are you insomniac? Then you may be at risk of hypertension.
Insomnia is one of the most common sleeping disorders. It is characterized by the inability to fall or sustain sleep. It can be acute or chronic. Either way, it can have a huge effect on the body. Lack of sleep is associated with reduced concentration, poor appetite suppression, and low immunity, among others. Now a new study points out that insomnia may put you at risk of hypertension, or an abnormally high blood pressure.
A group of researchers from Sichuan University studied 300 men and women, 200 of whom were known to be chronic insomniacs or those that hadn't slept well for the past half year.
For the study, they were asked to sleep a single night in the sleep medicine unit in West China Hospital. They were asked to sleep as normally as possible with the ambiance of the room including light and sound controlled. The following day they were also allowed to take 20-minute naps four times while the researchers measured how soon they were able to fall asleep. Throughout their stay their blood pressure was obtained.
Upon analyses, the researchers discovered that those who were able to sleep normally recorded normal blood pressure even if they struggled to fall asleep during naptime. However, for chronic insomniacs, the more they struggled to fall asleep during naptime, the higher the blood pressure became regardless of other factors such as age, caffeine intake, and weight.
Meanwhile, those who had insomnia but were able to sleep within 13 minutes during naptime didn't have the same risks.
Simply put, the risk of hypertension increases for those who were insomniacs and hyperactive during the day. This is because the body produces more cortisol, a kind of stress hormone. When produced in higher amounts, it leads to elevated heart rate and blood pressure.
