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A recent article suggests that increased efforts by clinicians to promote healthy sleep habits may prevent hypertension in young and middle-aged people.

Sleep duration is associated with hypertension in young and middle-aged people, prompting the authors of a recent systematic review to call for increased efforts among clinicians to promote healthy sleep habits.

“Given current research results revealing a trend of hypertension manifesting at increasingly younger ages, we conducted a meta-analysis to further elucidate the relationship between sleep duration and hypertension risk in young and middle-aged individuals,” wrote Jie Yang and colleagues in the International Journal of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Risk and Prevention.

Linking Sleep to BP

Using a combination of keywords related to BP, age, and sleep, the authors searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for English-language articles published between January 2003 and November 2023.

Of 4,447 total studies, 16 met inclusion criteria for the analysis. The selection included 3 cohort and 13 cross-sectional studies, totaling 256,185 participants. Eleven studies were conducted in China; 2 in the US; and 1 each in South Korea, Japan, and Iran.

Across studies, hypertension was defined as one of the following:

• Systolic BP of 140 mm Hg or higher and/or diastolic BP of 90 mm Hg or higher
• Current use of antihypertensive medications
• A history of diagnosed hypertension

The researchers found a significant association between short sleep duration (ie, fewer than 7 hours) and hypertension risk (relative risk [RR], 1.10; 95% CI, 1.05-1.15), with significant heterogeneity among the studies (I², 61.6%; P=0.00).

Long sleep duration (ie, 9 hours or more) was also significantly associated with hypertension risk (odds ratio [OR], 1.10; 95% CI, 1.05-1.15), with no heterogeneity between studies (I², 30.4%; P=0.084).

Promoting Healthier Sleep Habits

According to the authors, rates of hypertension awareness and treatment are low among young and middle-aged people, which increases their risk for adverse events.

“A large number of patients lack a sufficient understanding of the detrimental effects associated with hypertension, often disregarding the need for treatment when patients manifest no symptoms, or struggle with adhering to long-term treatment,” the researchers noted.

To reduce hypertension risk and improve overall health, the researchers advised that young and middle-aged people should:

• Sleep for 7 to 8 hours
• Improve sleep quality
• Manage risk factors affecting sleep duration and quality
• Adopt a healthier lifestyle
• Follow a low-salt diet
• Quit smoking
• Limit alcohol intake
• Engage in regular exercise for weight control
• Alleviate mental stress
• Maintain psychologic balance
• Seek professional psychologic counseling, if necessary

“These steps are necessary to reduce the prevalence and progression of hypertension and decrease the occurrence of adverse events,” Yang and colleagues concluded.