Insufficient night-time sleep leads to increased blood pressure

A new study has shown that people, who are exposed to prolonged shortened sleep, experience a substantial increase in blood pressure at night.

A new study has shown that people, who are exposed to prolonged shortened sleep, experience a substantial increase in blood pressure at night.

The study led by Mayo Clinic researchers in the US examined healthy and normal weight people who had prolonged shortened sleep and observed that during the night-time, people with restrictive sleep systolic (top number) and diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure averaged 115/64 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) compared to the normal sleep phase.

The study added that the expected fall in blood pressure during the night was suppressed when people had inadequate sleep, and night-time heart rate was higher with sleep restriction than in normal sleep.

Naima Covassin, lead author said that high blood pressure, particularly during the night, is one of the major risk factors for heart disease.