Popping sleeping pills regularly may impact blood pressure: study

With our lives getting busier and our sleep cycles going on a toss, we often find ourselves relying on sleeping pills to snooze, even when we really don’t need to. Turns out, this harmless activity may be the reason your body in trouble. A recent study says that popping sleeping pills on a regular basis has a link to increased use of usage of blood pressure medications. This is especially the case for older adults.
Authored by José Banegas from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain, the study was published in the journal, Geriatrics & Gerontology International. Banegas said, "Previous reports on associations of sleep characteristics with blood pressure and hypertension were focused on middle-aged adults; however, these associations were absent or inconsistent among older adults,"
The study was carried out by the research team observing 752 older adults with hypertension from 2008-2010 to 2012-2013. The research team said that the analysis was carried out with logistic regression and was adjusted for lifestyle, demographics, comorbidity, hypertension control and baseline number of antihypertensive drugs.
In the follow-up period, the research team observed that 156 patients increased their dosage of antihypertensive drugs. On the flipside, they did not find any link with sleep duration or quality and the change in antihypertensive drug use. The team could therefore prospectively link consumption of sleeping pills to an increased number of antihypertensive drugs.
The team concluded by suggesting sleeping medication could be an indicator of a need for greater hypertension treatment in the future. The team also said they need to investigate underlying sleep disorders or unhealthy lifestyles that may contribute to hypertension.