Insomnia causes hypertension

Insomniacs, especially those who take longer than 14 minutes to fall asleep, face a greater risk of hypertension. An article, published in Psych Central, tells about this.

Insomnia is the most prevalent sleep disorder in the whole world.  About 10 percent have chronic complaints and seek medical help for insomnia.

Researchers studied those insomniacs who were hyperalert during the day and unable to relax and fall asleep.

219 chronic insomniacs participated in the study, 60 percent were women, and the average age of all the participants was 40. They defined chronic insomnia as difficulty sleeping for more than six months.

The participants spent one night monitored in a sleep lab and took the sleep test the next day. Monitoring included four 20-minute nap opportunities at two-hour intervals: 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m.

Half the participants took 14 minutes or less to fall asleep and half took more than 14 minutes to fall asleep. Those that took more than 14 minutes to fall asleep were considered “hyperaroused.”

Scientists asked whether they have hypertension and measured their blood pressure. Researchers controlled for confounding factors such as obesity, sleep apnea, diabetes, smoking, alcohol, and caffeine use.

Chronic insomnia combined with an sleet test score greater than 14 minutes increased the odds of hypertension by 300 percent. Sleep test scores greater than 17 minutes increased the odds by 400 percent.