There are significantly higher chances of people with high blood pressure suffering from a stroke when they don’t abide by rules of the need for ample sleep or those who oversleep. Either way it is bad so a balance is very much needed in sleep durations. High blood pressure patients sleeping less than 5 hours a night or more than 8 hours a night has much higher chances than those who sleep 7 to 8 eight hours a night, according to a new study.
More than 200,000 subjects have been observed for this study and it concluded that less than 5 hours of sleep per night enhances the chances of risk of getting a stroke by 83% whereas sleeping more than 8 hours increases the risk by 74%.
Dr. Oluwasen Akinseye and his team from Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City had presented their findings at the American Society of Hyptension’s annual meeting this week and said, “We were surprised, especially with the individuals reporting insufficient sleep, because most studies . . . have shown [only]a modest increase in the chances of suffering a stroke among those with short sleep duration.”
He added “Our study showed much higher odds of a stroke, almost a twofold increase.”
“There are monitors that measures not only sleep duration but quality also. I think studies using a more objective measurement of sleep, such as remote or recordable devices, would be helpful in truly capturing objective data because self-reporting has its limitations,” as said by other researchers.
The author did not provide with a concrete explanation for the findings but did give a hint that it could be because those who have little sleep have more of the hormone cortisol in their bodies whereas long sleep can lead to an increase in the amount of inflammatory chemicals present in the body.
1 Comment
Not so sure about this. I have essential hypertension.
After 24 hour monitoring my BP when I’m asleep is spot on normal as opposed to problem high when I’m awake.
I’d say I was safer asleep to be honest.