You don’t need to get more sleep or head to bed earlier than usual — but hitting the pillow at the same time every night could lower and control blood pressure levels, experts say.
Nearly half of American adults are living with high blood pressure, putting them at risk for heart attacks and stroke.
The body’s clock, also known as its circadian rhythm, keeps the body on a healthy sleep schedule, along with regulating hormones, metabolism and organ function. When that clock is thrown off, blood pressure, which normally dips as we sleep, doesn’t fall. That can put us at a higher risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, heart attacks and stroke.
Keeping a set bedtime strengthens our internal clock, say Oregon Health & Science University researchers.
“If you’re in a normal blood pressure range, your risk of having a heart attack or stroke is actually very low,” Stanford Medicine’s Dr. David Lee, who was not a part of the research, said. “Once your blood pressure starts climbing, then that risk goes up two, five, eight times, depending on how high the blood pressure is.”
Small study, big impact
The researchers monitored the blood pressure of 11 middle-aged adults over a week of their normal sleep schedule, and then over two weeks with a set bedtime.
Participants were not asked to change how long they slept — only when they went to bed.
During that two-week period with a set bedtime, their daily blood pressure dropped markedly, the researchers said.
Blood pressure is taken with two measurements: a systolic number and a diastolic number read in millimeters of mercury, or mmHg. Systolic blood pressure measures the force in your arteries as your heart beats, while diastolic blood pressure measures blood pressure during the pause between the heartbeats.
Readings that are less than 120 systolic and less than 80 diastolic are considered to be “normal,” according to the American Heart Association. Anything above 130 systolic and 80 diastolic is considered to be high blood pressure.
People with readings higher than 180 systolic and 120 diastolic are severe or considered an emergency, and should seek medical treatment.
In those who were part of the small study, daily systolic blood pressure fell by more than four mmHg and diastolic fell by three mmHg, according to the Oregon-based research team. These effects were seen even in people already taking medications to treat high blood pressure.
Systolic reading reductions, of even five mmHG, can lower cardiovascular risks by 10 percent in patients with high blood pressure, the researchers wrote.
“Half the participants decreased their blood pressure beyond the point indicating positive physiological change,” the university said in a November release.
A low-cost fix
The researchers hope to study these effects in a larger group, but said the findings were an encouraging step. Part of that is due to how easy it is to make these changes.
“Bedtime regularization represents a low-cost, low-risk intervention that could complement existing hypertension treatments. Unlike medications with side effects or difficult lifestyle changes, going to bed at the same time requires minimal effort,” the research team said.
Some medications for high blood pressure can cost over $100 per month without insurance.
Other lifestyle changes may make a difference, as well. High blood pressure has been linked to a diet too high in salt, too much alcohol, not getting enough physical activity, smoking, having a genetic history of the condition and being over the age of 55.
In some cases, people may have an underlying medical condition that causes high blood pressure, such as sleep apnea and thyroid disease, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
