Teens Beware! Poor Sleep Drives High Blood Pressure; Know How To Fix Your Napping Schedule

Teenagers who sleep less than seven hours daily are more likely to have high blood pressure, a new study suggests. According to experts, the habit can also lead to long-term serious health conditions like insomnia, which increases hypertension to more than 140 systolic.

The research, presented at an American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans earlier this week, has warned that high blood pressure in teen years could set the kids up for a lifetime of heart health problems.

“While we need to explore this association in larger studies on teens, it is safe to say that sleep health matters for heart health, and we should not wait until adulthood to address it,” said senior researcher Julio Fernandez-Mendoza, director of behavioral sleep medicine at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Penn.

“Not all teens who complain of insomnia symptoms are at risk for cardiovascular issues,” he continued in an AHA news release. “However, monitoring their sleep duration objectively can help us identify those who have a more severe form of insomnia and are at risk for heart problems.”

For the study, researchers enrolled around 420 students at three school districts in and around Harrisburg, Penn. Their sleep duration, irrespective of whether or not they suffered from insomnia, was measured regularly for at least three years. The teens' blood pressure was taken a few times, two to three hours before lights out in the sleep lab.

“We know that disturbed and insufficient sleep is associated with high blood pressure in adults, particularly in adults who report insomnia and sleep objectively less than six hours, but we do not yet know if these associations exist in adolescents,” Fernandez-Mendoza said.

Teens were considered to have elevated blood pressure if their numbers exceeded 120/80 and to have full-fledged high blood pressure with a reading of 140/90 or higher.

According to the researchers, teens who reported insomnia but got more than 7.7 hours of sleep did not appear to be at risk for either elevated or high blood pressure.

Scientists say the findings are important to understand the need for parents, especially to listen to those youngsters who complain of disturbed sleep, to monitor and assess their sleep objectively, and to help them improve it in order to prevent heart problems early.

For teenagers looking to fix their sleep schedule and get regulated and uninterrupted sleep, they must:

Teenagers must do at least an hour of physical activity daily, be it sports, running, or walking, which can help improve mood and ease stress. Just don't work out too close to bedtime because exercise can wake you up before it slows you down.

Most youngsters today drink coffee, which is loaded with caffeine—a stimulant that only keeps you awake and alert. However, drinking coffee near bedtime can leave you tossing and turning in bed.

Make sure that your bedroom is a tech-free zone, as the light that emits from electronic devices tricks the brain into thinking it’s still daytime, so shut everything down an hour before lights go out.

Make sure to go to bed at the same time every night. It helps your body to expect sleep. Creating a set bedtime routine also enhances the relaxation effect.

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