(HuffPost Healthy Living) Here’s some sobering and serious news for women: Sleeping poorly may double your risk of a form of high blood pressure that is not easily treated.
In a study presented at the American Heart Association High Blood Pressure Research 2012 Scientific Sessions, researchers from Italy’s University of Pisa said they’d found a strong association between poor sleep quality and resistant hypertension in women. Resistant hypertension is a form of high blood pressure that does not respond to treatment, including use of blood-pressure lowering medications. The current study defined resistant hypertension as high blood pressure that fails to respond to treatment using three or more high blood pressure medications. Researchers in this study also examined a possible relationship between depression and resistant hypertension.
The study included 234 adults who were already being treated for high blood pressure in an outpatient hypertension program, a group that was evenly split between men and women. Researchers analyzed data on sleep quantity and sleep quality, depression and anxiety, and risk factors for cardiovascular problems.
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