Night Owls Watch Out: Your Sleep and Blood Pressure are Connected

The following factors can lead to a lack of sleep or worsen your quality of sleep.

1. Stress

When you experience physical or mental stress, your body releases stress hormones like cortisol and catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) to help you deal with the stressor. These hormones trigger a “fight or flight” response in your body, which makes you more mentally and physically alert, thus keeping you awake. Thus, any form of short-term or long-term stress you experience can result in a loss of sleep duration and quality. This lack of sleep in turn makes you more vulnerable to stress and raised cortisol levels, resulting in a vicious cycle.

2. Sleep Apnoea

Sleep apnoea is a condition in which you experience trouble breathing when you are asleep. You may experience repeated periods of time where you stop breathing before you resume again. During these periods when you are not breathing, your blood oxygen levels drop suddenly, which causes an increase in your heartbeat and blood pressure levels. This lack of oxygen can also result in breathlessness and frequent waking in the night.

3. Caffeine

Caffeine is a nervous system stimulant, i.e., it increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure, and makes you mentally and physically alert. Caffeine consumption keeps you awake and alert, resulting in poor sleep quality.

4. Irregular Sleep Schedule

Having an erratic sleep schedule, i.e., sleeping at different times every night, getting drastically different durations of sleep every night, and taking day-time naps that are longer than an hour, can all affect your circadian rhythm (biological clock). This can result in problems like a lack of sleep, taking too long to fall asleep, interrupted or disturbed sleep, etc.

5. Mental Health Disorders

Mental health issues like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), bipolar disorder (BPD), etc. can cause insomnia, which is a sleeping disorder characterised by an inability to fall or stay asleep. 

6. Medication

Some medicines can cause insomnia or disturbed sleep as a side effect. If you suspect your medication may be interfering with your sleep, discuss your concerns with your doctor.