Chronic Insomnia May Harm Heart Health

Chronic insomnia may be bad for the heart, even in healthy people, researchers conclude Quebec. They observed that the blood pressure of insomniacs do not sufficiently lowered at night, even when they sleep well.

  “The night should be a rest for the whole body, even to the cardiovascular system. Thus, blood pressure should see a decrease of about 10% during sleep, “says Paola A. Lanfranchi, principal investigator of the study1-2. According to several studies, people who do not have a sufficient decrease in blood pressure when they sleep are more likely to be suffering from cardiovascular diseases.

The small clinical trial was conducted with 26 healthy people, including 13 suffering from chronic insomnia and 13 good sleepers. The participants spent 1 days and 2 nights – 40 hours total – in the laboratory study of sleep Hospital du Sacre-Coeur in Montreal.

The research team evaluated the reading brain activity, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing patients.

According to the results, subjects showed insomniacs laboratory lower blood pressure by 8% compared to 14% in good sleepers. “This is a significant difference, since 77% of insomniac patients were not typical pattern of sleep, a decrease of blood pressure by 10%,” says Paola A. Lanfranchi.

The study also demonstrated that subjects who were insomniacs slept in the laboratory had no pressure drop greater than those who did not sleep well. “This is an important avenue to explore. We observed that these subjects when they sleep, have an activity faster in some areas of the brain, particularly those related to the regulation of emotion and cognitive function. ”

According to the researcher, there seems to be a clear relationship between physiological disorders associated with insomnia and the mechanisms regulating blood pressure.

The research team would like to push the study further to explore the mechanisms, consequences and treatment options for insomnia. “This study focused on healthy subjects. It would also be interesting to see the effects of insomnia in people who already have cardiovascular problems, “suggests she.