Once again we are approaching exam season. The season lauded with late nights and early morning to catch on studying we probably should done earlier. Well, now you should know that it could kill your studies, and well, you.
A recent study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session linked sleeping less than 7 hours a night to an increase risk of high blood pressure. High blood pressure is generally considered to be the precursor to many cardiovascular diseases, such as cardiac arrest.
The research involved 1,044,035 individuals across six countries who initially did not have a history of high blood pressure. Over follow-up periods ranging from 2 to 18 years (with a median of 5 years), the researchers made several key observations:
Sleep Duration and Hypertension Risk:
Individuals with shorter sleep durations faced a significantly higher risk of developing hypertension.
This association persisted even after adjusting for various demographic and cardiovascular risk factors, including smoking, blood pressure, body mass, education, gender, and age.
Stronger Association for Very Short Sleep:
The risk was even more pronounced for those getting fewer than five hours of sleep.
Sleeping fewer than 7 hours was associated with a 7% increased risk of developing high blood pressure. That number increased to 11% when sleep duration was less than 5 hours. 1
Females at greater risk
The study was not able to find any age-dependant risk factors, but did find that females - who made up 61% of the testing data aged 35 to 61 - had a 7% higher chance of developing high blood pressure compared to men.
“Getting too little sleep appears to be riskier in females. The difference is statistically significant, though we are not sure it’s clinically significant and should be further studied. What we do see is that lack of good sleep patterns may increase the risk of high blood pressure, which we know can set the stage for heart disease and stroke.”
~Kaveh Hosseini, MD, assistant professor of cardiology at the Tehran Heart Center Iran, Principal Investigator of the Study
While the study did not have a clinical explanation as to why this occurred, the view of experts, such as Dr Cheng-Han Chen MD, explained that since “poor sleep is thought to increase stress hormones that can increase blood pressure, it is possible that women have a heightened stress response to sleep disruption,”
Susan Miller, a certified sleep expert, explained that the risk could be attributed to hormonal factors, “particularly fluctuations in oestrogen levels, which may influence sleep patterns and cardiovascular health differently.”
“Women are more likely to experience sleep disturbances related to hormonal changes during menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause,” she said. “Social and environmental factors also add to the factors like caregiving responsibilities and work-related stress that affect women’s sleep quality and quantity. all these contribute to increased hypertension risk.” 2
The dangers of high blood pressure
High Blood Pressure is linked a very wide range of deadly disorders, such as:
Cardiac Arrest: Thickening of arteries due to artherioscolorosis [build up of plaque in arteries) induced by high blood pressure stops blood flow to heart muscles, causing them to fail
Stroke: Thickening of arteries reducing blood flow to the brain, hence killing parts of brain tissue.
Aneurysm: Increase in blood pressure can cause the blood vessels to bulge up, and an eventual rupture in the vessel can be life threatening.
Kidney Problems: High blood pressure can lead to narrowing or weakening of blood vessels in the kidneys, potentially causing kidney damage.
Eye Problems:Increased blood pressure may result in thickened, narrowed, or torn blood vessels in the eyes, leading to vision loss.
Metabolic Syndrome: This syndrome involves irregular glucose breakdown and includes:
Increased waist size
High triglycerides
Decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol
High blood pressure
High blood sugar levels
These conditions elevate the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
Changes in Memory and Understanding: Uncontrolled high blood pressure can impact cognitive abilities, affecting thinking, memory, and learning. Hence, affecting grades and learning
Dementia: Narrowed or blocked arteries reduce blood flow to the brain. This can lead to vascular dementia, especially after a stroke interrupts blood flow to the brain.
Well there you go, sleep deprivation can kill you. If yyou want to know about how to improve your sleep, check out this article.
Till next time, adios
https://www.acc.org/About-ACC/Press-Releases/2024/03/26/18/40/getting-too-little-sleep-linked-to-high-blood-pressure
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/getting-too-little-sleep-linked-to-high-blood-pressure?
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/symptoms-causes/syc-20373410