A little embarrassment, two...

2000/03/21 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Anatomia/Fisiologia

Every night we get into bed to rest. We don't always get it. Sometimes we have insomnia or nightmares without having other concerns. Then we associate the problem with a physical pain or restlessness. But sleep at full does not mean that all body functions are resting. The specialized journal Americal Journal of Hypertension has just published a study on this topic.

Blood pressure varies greatly from person to person. Of course. But in most cases it has been measured in awake people. But what happens when you sleep? According to studies by researchers at the Mayo Clinic, blood pressure from different people who sleep is also different. 240 healthy people who were put on a pressure gauge that worked for 20 hours. The measurement was done every ten minutes. Only two people measured normal pressure values.

In this experiment they found a surprising fact. The differences between people's pressures were greater when they slept than when they were fully occupied.

"Blood pressure changes that occur throughout the day are known to be related to heart and kidney problems," explains Gary Schwartz, head of Mayo's team of hypertension specialists and researchers. "It has been considered that at night pressure is reduced to safe limits and no major changes occur. The conclusion of our results is that changes in blood pressure that occur at night also add another type of contribution to heart and kidney problems."

In his opinion, people with high pressure receive the drug control effect both day and night. "However, according to this study, some people's blood pressure should also be measured at night, i.e. during sleep, and depending on the measurement outcome, the medication should be constantly adjusted. The aim of the research from now on will be to study the pressure limit values during the night. On the other hand, you have to look for a suitable treatment with too high pressure."