The “silent killer.” That’s a name that can scare anyone. But it’s not the name of a horror movie character. It’s the term used for hypertension or high blood pressure. That’s because this deadly condition often has no outward signs, and few if any symptoms.
And the worst part is, many of us have a habit that lets this silent killer sneak right up on us unnoticed…
If you persistently skimp on sleep, you’re sending your blood pressure soaring.
A study at the Mayo Clinic shows that if you cut short your sleep at night (in the study, folks only got 4 hours a night) your blood pressure at night goes up, your nighttime pulse rate quickens and your blood pressure’s normal daily cycle of rising and falling is disrupted.
“We know high blood pressure, particularly during the night, is one of the major risk factors for heart disease,” says researcher Naima Covassin. “For the first time, we demonstrated that insufficient sleep causes increases in nighttime blood pressure and dampens nocturnal blood pressure dipping by using a controlled study that mimics the sleep loss experienced by many people.”
The study measured blood pressure in people ages 19 to 36 after they slept for four hours a night for several days, and then again after getting about nine hours of sleep nightly.
Normally, blood pressure drops at night, but the scientists found that restricted sleep kept blood pressure from dropping enough to insure good health.
It’s easy to say “get more sleep,” but in today’s hectic world, it’s not always easy to do. If you need some help lowering your blood pressure to avoid the risk of chronic disease, here are some nutritional ways to control blood pressure:
