A recent study contucted at Harvard Medical School looked at the amount/percentage of slow-wave stages of sleep and its affects on hypertension. The three and a half year study followed 784 healthly men, who had no previous signs of hypertension. The men had their blood pressure checked at various times throughout the study and their level of slow-wave sleep was monitored at home by a machine. The results of the study found that the men who spent the least amount of time in slow-wave (deep sleep) were most likely to have or develop high blood pressure. Normal sleep should consist of 25% slow-wave sleep, however, the men who had the highest risk on average got no more than 4% slow-wave sleep each night. During sleep, slow-wave sleep, the brain's electrical activity slows down, as well as blood pressure, which is a good thing. Lack of sleep, can interefere with brain signals that can directly influence blood pressure. Things that can contribute to lack of sleep include sleep apnea, snoring, as well as certain medications.
With the rising number of people developing sleep disorders on the rise, as well as the number of overweight and obese people, hypertension is on it's way to becoming one of the leading causes of death. In the United States, and in many other countries around the world, people are consuming more salty/sodium rich foods than ever before which lead to not only high blood pressure but an increase in weight, which can cause numerous health issues. The overall issue presented is that our diets, exercise, health, and even sleep habits have a huge impact on our overall health. And with the results of this study, and many others like it, it proves to us that everything we do and eat will have some sort of impact on our bodies; maybe not today, but sometime down the road it will all catch up with us.
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