InsomnieA novel study has discovered that people who suffer from insomnia seem to have heightened night-time blood pressure. This heightened blood pressure could perhaps result in cardiac problems.

Insomnia is known to be a chronic difficulty falling or staying asleep. It is estimated that it affects nearly 48 percent of the population at some point in their lives.

Scientists from the Université de Montréal were noted to measure the 24-hour blood pressure of insomniacs in contrast to sound sleepers. Furthermore, as part of the study, the scientific team recruited approximately 13 otherwise healthy chronic insomniacs and about 13 good sleepers.

Lead author of the study, Paola A. Lanfranchi, a professor in the Université de Montréal Faculty of Medicine and researcher at the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal Sleep Disorders Centre stated that, “Over many years, chronic insomnia can have negative effects on the hearts of otherwise healthy individuals. Whereas blood pressure decreases in regular sleepers and gives their heart a rest, insomnia provokes higher nighttime blood pressure that can cause long-term cardiovascular risks and damage the heart.”

“Blood pressure cycles are mainly linked to the sleep-wake cycle. Since blood pressure is heightened among insomniacs, those with overt cardiac disease are particularly at risk for progression of the disease,” says co author Jacques Montplaisir, a professor in the Université de Montréal Department of Psychiatry and director of Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal Disorders Center.

The findings revealed that subjects seem to have spent nearly 40 hours in the sleep laboratory. For example, subjects may perhaps have taken two nights for adjustment and one for monitoring which was followed by the intervening day.

This study was called as, ‘Nighttime Blood Pressure in Normotensive Subjects with Chronic Insomnia: Implications for Cardiovascular Risk.’ The findings of the study have been published in the journal, Sleep.