Study claims no association between insomnia and hypertension

A study looked into hypertension and insomnia and found no association between the two conditions.

A new research shows that insomnia is not associated with hypertension.

Insomnia is a sleeping disorder in which a person has difficulty falling asleep. Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital found that people with the disorder do not have an increased risk of developing high blood pressure.

For the study, researchers assessed nearly 13,000 Americans who were part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The survey consisted of a series of studies that examined the health of children and adults via interviews and physical examinations. The researchers examined the information about the participants' insomnia symptoms, hypertension and prescription drug use.

"After adjusting for many factors, including whether or not participants were receiving blood pressure pills or sleeping pills, there were generally no associations between insomnia and high blood pressure, even among people who were suffering from insomnia the most often," Dr. Nicholas Vozoris concluded, according to the press release. "These results should reassure patients and their doctors that insomnia and high blood pressure are unlikely to be linked."

Dr. Vozoris explained that the findings showed that doctors need not worry much about the side effects that insomnia medications might have on the heart. Moreover, the doctors can prescribe what they think is the best medication for their patients and focus on improving their patients' insomnia.

"By showing there is no link between this very common sleep disorder and high blood pressure, physicians can be more selective when prescribing sleeping pills and refrain from prescribing these medications from a cardio-protective perspective," Dr. Vozoris said.

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