This was the finding of a small study from Mayo Clinic that was presented at the 64th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology in San Diego on Sunday.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say insufficient sleep is a public health epidemic in the US.

Insufficient sleep is linked to motor vehicle accidents, industrial disasters and medical and other occupational errors.

People who do not get enough sleep are also at higher risk for chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and depression, as well as cancer, premature death and reduced quality of life and productivity.

Their Study:

For their study, the Mayo team enrolled eight healthy people of normal weight, aged from 19 to 36, in a 16-day inpatient trial.

The first 4 days was an acclimatization period. Then followed 9 days of either sleep restriction (4 hours of sleep a night) or normal sleep (9 hours a night), and 3 days of recovery.

The participants’ blood pressure was monitored regularly over the study period.

The results showed that in the nighttime, the average blood pressure readings in the sleep restriction phase compared with the normal sleep phase were 115/64 mm/Hg versus 105/57 mm/Hg.

Normally, one expects blood pressure to fall during the night, but the researchers found this was not the case during the restricted sleep period. The researchers also found that nighttime heart rate was higher during the sleep restriction phase than the normal sleep phase.

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Article Courtesy : http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/