Maintaining Fixed Bedtimes Reduces Blood Pressure

SadaNews - A recent study conducted in the United States found that maintaining fixed bedtimes every night helps lower blood pressure and maintain heart health.

As part of the study, published by the Oxford University Press, researchers monitored the sleep habits of 11 adults suffering from high blood pressure for a week, and then asked the volunteers to choose a specific time to go to bed each night, committing to it for two weeks, without requiring a specific number of hours of sleep or any naps during the day.

Before the experiment began, the bedtimes for the volunteers varied by about 30 minutes each night, but during the test, this variability was reduced to just 7 minutes.

The study team from the University of Oregon and the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences confirmed that adhering to fixed bedtimes during the test period helped lower systolic (upper) blood pressure by 4 units and diastolic (lower) blood pressure by 3 units over a 24-hour period, which can also be achieved through reduced salt intake or physical exercise.

The study also revealed that maintaining fixed bedtimes helps in reducing blood pressure even more during sleep, by 5 degrees in systolic pressure and 4 degrees in diastolic pressure. Notably, a 5-degree reduction in pressure decreases the risk of heart and arterial diseases by 10%.

Researchers stated in comments to the "Health Day" website, which specializes in medical research, that irregular sleep hours lead to a disruption of the body's biological clock, which assists in regulating sleep processes and heart functions, while sticking to a stable sleep schedule helps achieve healthy sleep patterns.

Researchers believe that if more experiments confirm these results, then adjusting bedtime every night will be considered a cheap and easy way to reduce the risks of heart and arterial diseases.

 

Source: German Press