Sleeping Too Much Or Too Little In Pregnancy Affects Blood Pressure
The one time in my life when I was able to sleep quite soundly was when I was pregnant.I found it interesting that not sleeping enough or sleeping too much could lead to structural changes in the cardiovascular system. Differing sleep patterns can change the hormones that regulate blood pressure. Read more:
SEE ALSO: STRESS AND MISCARRIAGE (getpregnantover40.com)
The study involved 1,272 healthy, pregnant women who completed a structured interview at 14 weeks gestation, on average. Sleep duration in early pregnancy was evaluated by the question, "Since becoming pregnant, how many hours per night do you sleep?"Only about 20.5 percent of women reported a sleep duration of nine hours per night, which was used as the "normal" reference category because prior research indicates that pregnant women tend to have longer sleep duration patterns.
About 55.2 percent of women reported sleeping seven to eight hours per night, 13.7 percent slept six hours or less and about 10.6 percent slept 10 hours or more.
According to the authors, a number of mechanisms by which habitual short sleep duration may lead to increased blood pressure have been proposed. Because blood pressure is known to dip by an average of 10 to 20 percent during sleep, short sleep durations may raise the average 24-hour blood pressure and heart rate.
This may lead to structural changes that gradually raise the pressure equilibrium of the entire cardiovascular system. Sleep restriction also may produce abnormalities in the levels of hormones such as endothelin and vasopressin, which play an important role in the cardiovascular system.
from
medindia.net
