Women's Wake Up Call: Little Sleep, Bigger Blood Pressure

You exercise regularly and maintain an ideal weight. You eat well and would call yourself a health nut. You have never smoked. Now you learn that you have high blood pressure and there's no apparent reason. What gives?

If you were to ask me, I'd question your sleep habits. How much are you getting? Be honest.

Reuters reported on a new study last weekend about women who get fewer than seven hours a night on a normal basis. It's news that should remind us all the value of sleep and getting enough as a vital sign of health.

According to the latest study, so-called "short sleepers" are more likely to develop high blood pressure (which of course further ups one's risk for cardiovascular disease).

What's "new" about this study, though, is that it's among the first to show a link between poor sleep and high blood pressure in the absence of any sleep disorder and regardless of other factors like smoking, being overweight, or living a sedentary lifestyle. Numerous studies have linked poor sleep quality to an increased risk of not only high blood pressure, but also obesity, diabetes, and heart disease -- most of which have focused on underlying sleep disorders to blame for the bad sleep. We know, for example, that people with the breathing sleep disorder sleep apnea are at a higher risk for health problems. But to see an independent link between sleep deprivation in general and hiked blood pressure is tremendous. A wake up call?

I think so. I hope so. It doesn't seem fair, but the study also pointed to this relationship being predominantly specific to women. We haven't seen such a powerful association between sleep deprivation and blood pressure in men. That said, men are not immune to the health-damaging effects of bad sleep. It's just that there was no clear relationship between amount of sleep and blood pressure in men in this particular study.

The researchers think that lack of sufficient sleep contributes to high blood pressure by keeping the nervous system in a state of hyperactivity. This in turn affects other bodily systems, including the heart and blood vessels. 

The takehome lesson is clear: you can't call yourself a health nut if you skimp on sleep. Sure, it'd be nice to get more done each day by staying up late or getting up in those pre-dawn hours. But evicting precious sleepytime just might come back to bite you in your blood.

So here's my prescription (my challenge to you) for the week: knock off the last three things on your To Do list each day. Get to bed a little earlier. And take some of the pressure off your heart and soul.