Want to help your teen lower their risk of high blood pressure? Encourage them to get more sleep! A new study from UTHealth Houston shows that teens who sleep 9-11 hours a night are 37% less likely to develop hypertension. The research, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, underscores the importance of healthy sleep habits and explores how environmental factors can affect sleep.
“Disrupted sleep can lead to changes in the body’s stress response, including elevated levels of stress hormones like cortisol, which in turn can increase blood pressure,” said first author Augusto César Ferreira De Moraes, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health.
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Utilizing the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, which tracks adolescents’ biological and behavioral development, De Moraes and his team analyzed data from 3,320 adolescents across the U.S. to investigate incidents of high blood pressure during nighttime sleep cycles. Scientists identified a rise in hypertension incidents over two data periods, 2018-2020 and 2020-2022, showing an increase from 1.7% to 2.9%. The data included blood pressure readings and Fitbit assessments, which measured total sleep time and REM sleep duration at night. The study’s design analyzed covariates such as Fitbit-tracked sleep, blood pressure, and neighborhood noise by residential geocodes, allowing for a thorough examination of environmental noise exposure for each participant.
Noise pollution might not be the main culprit behind high blood pressure, at least not in this study. However, it’s clear that environmental factors like noise can impact our sleep, and more research is needed to understand the long-term effects on health, especially when considering factors like income, stress, and family history.
“Consistent sleep schedules, minimizing screen time before bed, and creating a calm, quiet sleep environment can all contribute to better sleep quality, “Martin Ma, MPH, second author of the study and recent graduate of the school. “Although environmental noise didn’t directly affect hypertension in this study, maintaining a quiet and restful sleep environment is still important for overall well-being.”
