Posted on 06/16/2019 5:59:23 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
A bad night's sleep may result in a spike in blood pressure that night and the following day, according to new research led by the University of Arizona.
The study offers one possible explanation for why sleep problems have been shown to increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and even death from cardiovascular disease.
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 the country. 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 reinforces just how important a good night's sleep can be. 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."
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
For us guys, to keep from waking up for the restroom, I use 60 mg of Beta-Sitosterol and a good Nettle Root Extract. These really work for me.
Always the exception to the rule but going on 13 or 14 years since my bad head injury and 13 or 14 years of bad sleep :)
Been awake as much as 74 hours.
Never sleep more than 4 hours in a row.
Wake up with tremors.
Blood pressure has always been fine.
BTW, I RARELY have those long bouts anymore.
The brain is a wonderful thing and kept healing and healing WAY past two years.
But now i think it’s done!! :)
Any smart people out there wanna take a shot at why I wake up with brutal tremors all over and my eyes shooting back and forth for about 1 to 3 minutes before it stops?
Damage to thalamus, cerebellum and vestibular area.
NO doctor can give me an answer in all these years.
They said brain injury damaged the sleep-wake cycle. I don’t think they know what that means :)
If I don’t drink, I might sleep through the night, but I wake up parched in the morning. If I drink, then I have to get up several times. It’s a no win situation.
Does melatonin really work for people? I have to take a Lunesta when I get a restless night going. Which is frequent.
This is funny. I have high blood pressure and have for about a decade. Typically 165 over 103 or so. Meanwhile, my wife has normal and, actually on the low side. I sleep like a baby. she has a hard time sleeping.
“cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, or CBTI”
Does anybody know anyone for whom this worked>
Personally, I am very skeptical of this.
I take 3 Valerian Root Extract capsules. Seems to work for me. If I take Melatonin more than 2 nights in a row I start to feel out (not sharp) of it during the day.
Melatonin works for some people, doesn’t work for others.
Lunesta too. Good that Lunesta works for you.
I have normal blood pressure and a slow heart (usually below 60 beats per minute). But I sometimes have trouble sleeping.
With the BP numbers you mentioned, people usually take BP medication. Did you try?
Usually meds like Lotensin are helpful w no bad effects.
Beta blockers work fine for some people, cause problems for others.
Sometimes you need to experiment a bit — with you doctor’s help, of course.
I take a couple of Gaviscon or Tums before bed, and that helps. Even though I don’t feel that my stomach bothers me, I’d heard that imperceptible stomach issues can cause restless sleep.
I can drink strong black coffee an hour before bed and sleep fine.
Yes - I had to ‘fail out’ of other sleep aids so my doc could get the insurance to actually pay for it. Others either didn’t work, or I’d wake up feeling like I had a head full of cotton for a half hour. If I take a Lunesta (or ‘Looney” as my wife calls them), I’ll get up in the morning and feel like a million bucks by the time I walk to the bathroom. It’s a generic now, so it only costs a few dollars to refill. Like melatonin, your mileage may vary.
I have high blood pressure, it shot up suddenly (and inexplicably according to my endocrinologist) a few years ago. I have a hard time sleeping through the night, have for years. I’m exhausted when I go to bed and sleep soundly until around 2-3 am, then toss and turn until 5. I wonder which is the cause and which is the effect. My husband sleeps like a baby and despite having a higher BMI and waist to hip ratio than me, his blood pressure is great.
Sleep got better when my Graves Disease went into remission; oddly, that was immediately followed by the high blood pressure. One thing alone helps me sleep through the night, but I can’t do that every single night ;-).
“One thing alone helps me sleep through the night, but I can’t do that every single night ;-).”
Sure you can...
LOL
It works for a lot of people, with much smaller doses. I never take more than 3 mg and my wife takes no more than 1 mg.
As an added benefit, our bodies use melatonin to repair cell damage.
Magnesium works for me. I use a spray.
We also take magnesium every day, but not specifically for sleeping purposes.
Good point, though.
For women, there are other treatments for this issue.
This has a run down of multiple options to address it:
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/nocturia-or-frequent-urination-night
Don’t take the two things I mentioned for men. They help with enlarged prostate.
Or is it possible high blood pressure causes sleepless nights? - Tom
Have you ever had a sleep study done?
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