A consistent bedtime may play a meaningful role in lowering blood pressure, according to a new study examining how sleep duration affects cardiovascular health.
While most people’s main concern is getting enough sleep, experts say sleep duration also plays an important role in heart health.
Dr. William Lu, medical director of Drreem Health in San Francisco, told Fox News Digital that sleep duration and sleep duration play into each other, and consistency is a key part of supporting cardiovascular health.
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“Both are important, but there is growing evidence that regularity — falling asleep and waking up at roughly the same time each night — is an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk, even when total sleep time is taken into account,” Lu said.
Recent research findings support this link. In a study published in the journal Sleep Progress, adults with high blood pressure who maintained a consistent bedtime routine for two weeks saw modest but meaningful improvements in their readings, even though they didn’t sleep for longer.
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A consistent bedtime may play a meaningful role in lowering blood pressure, according to a new study examining how sleep duration affects cardiovascular health.
Participants reduced their bedtime changes from about 30 minutes to just a few minutes each night, and researchers say the simple change helped restore healthier blood pressure overnight.
Experts say even a small drop in systolic blood pressure at night can reduce cardiovascular risk.
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This concept is supported by research on circadian rhythms and the body’s natural blood pressure patterns.
“Consistent bedtime and wake-up times keep your internal body clock in sync with the Earth’s day and night cycles,” says Lu.
Experts say both the amount of sleep and the duration of sleep are important for heart health.
Doctors say a stable sleep schedule helps the body release important hormones like melatonin and cortisol at the right times, supporting the natural rise and fall of blood pressure throughout the day and night.
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Lew warns that disrupted sleep schedules can affect blood pressure more quickly than many people realize. While some people find changing bedtimes on the weekends or staying up late occasionally to have little impact, experts say the body responds almost immediately.
Regular sleep schedules help maintain the body’s natural blood pressure rhythm, which can be disrupted when bedtime changes occur.
For people who want to establish a more consistent sleep routine, Lu recommends starting with waking up in the morning.
“Start with a consistent wake-up time every day, including weekends, and anchor the schedule with morning light, then set a consistent bedtime that allows you to get enough sleep before your wake-up time,” he advises. “Choose a wake-up time that you can maintain and enjoy 30 minutes of morning light after waking up.”
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He also recommends adding a short relaxation routine before bed and reducing stimulants and screen use in the evening.
Improving sleep duration is a low-risk change that may help lower blood pressure, Lu said, adding that a consistent bedtime routine should be used in addition to antihypertensive medications, not as a substitute.
The researchers acknowledge that the study does have some limitations.
The sample size was relatively small, consisting of 11 middle-aged adults with obesity and hypertension. It was also a two-week period, meaning the researchers could only measure short-term changes.
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The study also lacked a control group or randomization, so it couldn’t prove that the blood pressure improvements were caused by more consistent bedtimes or other lifestyle factors such as changes in diet, stress or medication. Larger, longer-term studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Anyone considering changing sleep schedule to improve blood pressure should first talk to a doctor.
Original source of the article: Simple nighttime ritual linked to healthy blood pressure, study shows
