Sleeping less than 7 hours is associated with a 7 percent increased likelihood of developing high blood pressure, preliminary findings of a study have revealed.
The study, which analyzed data from more than 1 million people from 6 different countries, showed that this probability increases to 11 percent with less than 5 hours of sleep.
The research team notes that no age-related differences were detected in the relationship between sleep duration and high blood pressure.
Kaveh Hosseini, assistant professor of cardiology at the Tehran Heart Center in Iran, says
Sleeping 7 to 8 hours, as recommended by sleep experts, may also be best for your heart.
Preliminary findings, presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in the US, also show that the risk of this condition is 7 percent higher in women than in men.
However, Hosseini cautioned that while the difference is statistically significant, “we are not sure that it is clinically significant” and emphasized the need for further research.
The people whose data were analyzed in the study did not have high blood pressure at the beginning of the study and were followed for an average of 5 years.
The link between sleep and high blood pressure was obtained after statistically adjusting for factors such as heart disease risk, gender, education, smoking status and weight.
The study’s researchers recommend that people talk to their healthcare providers about their sleep patterns, as sleep-related disorders such as breathing disorders have also been linked to cardiovascular disease.
