A recent study found that older men who got less deep sleep have a higher risk of hypertension. In the study, men with the lowest level of the deeper stages of slumber, known as slow-wave sleep, had an 80% higher chance of developing high blood pressure than men with the highest level of slow-wave sleep.
For the study, researchers evaluated 784 men with an average age 75. In 2003-05, the men did not have high blood pressure. When they returned for a follow up in 2007-09, the investigators found that 243 men had developed high blood pressure. The researchers divided the men into four groups, from those with the lowest amount of slow-wave sleep to the highest. In this study, the men averaged 11.2% of slow-wave sleep but those in the lowest of the four groups averaged only 4% of restorative slow-wave sleep and these individuals developed hypertension at significantly higher rates than those who got more restorative sleep.
As persons age, the amount of slow-wave sleep they get typically declines. Among children as much as much as 40% of their sleep is comprised of slow-wave sleep while among middle-aged adults typically only about one-fourth of their sleep is slow wave. When one goes to sleep blood pressure normally falls, especially while in deep sleep, but exactly why lack of deep sleep influences overall blood pressure is not known.
“The new research adds to information about the importance of sleep,” said Dr. Alberto Ramos, co-director of the University of Miami Sleep Disorders Center. “Experts agree that not enough sleep, over time, can boost the risk of high blood pressure. The new study goes further by suggesting that the quality of your sleep, specifically the amount of deep sleep, plays as important a role in developing high blood pressure as the actual amount of time you sleep."
What to do: Adults can take measures to try to increase slow-wave sleep by decreasing the number of times they wake up in the night. Thus, setting up your sleep environment to not wake you up and timing your fluid intake so that you do not need to wake up to go to the bathroom can help. Also, having a regular sleep pattern appears to be associated with better quality sleep. Additionally, it is important to prevent and/or be treated for underlying sleep disorders that can wake you up -- such as sleep apnea. Maintaining a healthy weight is the best way to prevent developing sleep apnea.
Sources: Aug. 29, 2011, Hypertension, online & http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_115892.html.
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