Not getting enough sleep may lead to high blood pressure over time, according to a new study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session. Researchers analyzed data from over one million people and found that sleeping fewer than seven hours per night is linked to a higher risk of developing hypertension.
Scientists have long suspected a connection between sleep and blood pressure, but past studies have shown mixed results. This new research combined data from 16 studies conducted between 2000 and 2023, following more than a million people from six countries over a median period of five years. At the start of the study, none of the participants had high blood pressure.
After considering factors like age, sex, weight, smoking habits, and other health risks, researchers found that people who slept less than seven hours per night had a 7% greater chance of developing high blood pressure. For those getting fewer than five hours of sleep, the risk increased to 11%. By comparison, smoking and diabetes raise the risk by at least 20%.
Dr. Kaveh Hosseini, the study’s lead researcher and a cardiologist at Tehran Heart Center, explained, “The less you sleep—less than seven hours a day—the more likely you are to develop high blood pressure in the future.”
Interestingly, while researchers noticed a trend suggesting that very long sleep durations might also increase the risk, the results were not statistically significant. This means that sleeping more than eight hours might not necessarily cause high blood pressure, but sleeping too little clearly does.
The study did not investigate the exact reasons why lack of sleep raises blood pressure, but researchers believe poor sleep quality could be a key factor.
Lifestyle habits such as overeating, alcohol use, working night shifts, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders like sleep apnea may all contribute to the problem. Sleep apnea, in particular, has been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.
One surprising finding was that the effect of sleep loss on blood pressure was similar across all ages. Since sleep patterns often change as people get older, researchers expected to see age-related differences, but they did not. The participants ranged in age from 35 to 61 years old, and 61% were female.
Women who slept fewer than seven hours had a 7% greater risk of developing high blood pressure compared to men who slept the same amount. Dr. Hosseini noted, “Getting too little sleep appears to be riskier in females, but we need more research to confirm whether this difference is significant in real-world health outcomes.”
The study highlights the importance of discussing sleep habits with healthcare providers, especially for those experiencing poor sleep quality. Since conditions like sleep apnea are known to increase the risk of hypertension and heart disease, identifying and treating sleep disorders may help lower blood pressure.
However, the study does have some limitations. The findings are based on self-reported sleep durations, which means people may not have accurately reported their sleep habits. Additionally, different studies defined “short sleep” in slightly different ways—some considered fewer than six hours to be short, while others used five hours as the cutoff.
To improve future research, scientists suggest using more precise methods, like sleep monitoring tests such as polysomnography, which can measure sleep quality more accurately. They also emphasize the need for standardized definitions of sleep duration to make study results more comparable across different research projects.
Overall, this study reinforces the idea that sleep is crucial for heart health. Sticking to a regular sleep schedule and getting at least seven hours of rest per night may be one of the simplest ways to help prevent high blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about breakfast for better blood pressure management, and the gut feeling that lowers blood pressure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how the dash diet helps lower blood pressure, and how to eat your way to healthy blood pressure.
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