Chronic insomnia with objectively measured short sleep time is an independent and clinically significant risk factor for hypertension.
The study published in the April 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.
Results indicate that participants with insomnia and an objectively measured, severely short sleep duration of less than five hours had a risk for hypertension that was 500 percent higher than participants without insomnia who slept more than six hours. People with insomnia and a moderately short sleep duration of five to six hours had a risk for hypertension that was 350 percent higher than normal sleepers.
In contrast, neither insomnia with a normal sleep duration of more than six hours nor a short sleep duration without a sleep complaint was associated with a significant risk for hypertension. This suggests that there is an additive or synergistic effect on hypertension risk when insomnia occurs in combination with a short sleep duration.
According to lead author Alexandros N. Vgontzas, MD, director of the Sleep Researc…
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