Night Time Blood Pressure Tip

Nahhh, this isn’t quite what you were thinking...the phenomenon of nighttime dipping as it relates to your blood pressure is pretty important for overall cardiovascular health.

Studies have demonstrated that nocturnal/nighttime Blood Pressure (BP) is a better predictor of cardiovascular risk than daytime BP.

During normal sleep, there is a decrease in BP relative to wakefulness. This decrease is referred to as “nocturnal dipping” and is attributable to decreases in sympathetic output.

A decrease of 10% to 20% in nighttime BP (both systolic and diastolic) compared with daytime BP is considered normal. But when nighttime dipping doesn’t occur (which is less than a 10% decrease in daytime BP), our risk of high blood pressure and heart disease increases dramatically.

Each hour less than the recommended 8 hours per night of sleep is associated with a 37% increase in the odds of a hypertensive event.

Many diseases are associated with diminished or absence of nocturnal dipping, including most secondary causes of hypertension, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, older age, resistant hypertension, and obstructive sleep apnea.

PMID: 20682533