Adequate sleep is associated with reduced risk of hypertension in adolescents

FRIDAY, Nov. 15, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Adequate sleep in teens is associated with a reduced risk of hypertension, according to a study published Nov. 11 online. Journal of the American Heart Association.

Augusto Cesar F. De Moraes, Ph.D., of the Texas Health Science Center in Houston and colleagues analyzed data from 3,320 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study to investigate the specific interaction between noise and sleep health in causing hypertension. . The cohort included participants who had complete data on sleep, blood pressure, height, ambient noise, and covariates tracked by Fitbit. Sleep health was classified based on the length of the day as healthy (nine to 12 hours), moderately healthy (plus or minus one hour from optimal), and poor (one hour or more of deviation).

The researchers observed an increase in the incidence of hypertension from 1.7% in 2018-2020 to 2.9% in 2020-2022. The risk of developing hypertension was lower for adolescents with healthier sleep (relative risk 0.63); no significant effects were observed for neighborhood noise alone or in combination with sleep health.

“Initiatives to improve sleep hygiene and address sleep disorders in young adults may have significant long-term cardiovascular benefits,” the authors write. “These findings highlight the need for multifaceted approaches to promote cardiovascular health in adolescents.”

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