Sleepless Night May Lead To Heart Attacks Or Strokes, Study Suggests

Jet, March 8, 1999

A lack of sleep could possibly lead to heart attacks or strokes the next morning, according to a new study.

Researchers in Italy studied 20 men and 16 women with high blood pressure who had never been treated, according to an article in The American Journal of Hypertension, cited in The New York Times.

The study found blood pressures and heart rates were higher on mornings after the patients were deprived of sleep than when patients slept undisturbed all the way through the night.

A sleepless night for people with high blood pressure might indicate a cycle of stress, experts believe.

The study's findings also suggest that a lack of sleep in patients with high blood pressure may increase the nervous system activity at night and the next morning and lead to increased blood pressure and heart rate.

Sleep deprivation is generally defined as anything under four hours of sleep, experts say.