Less sleep can raise your blood pressure

Coming up short on your nightly snooze not only can affect your mood but, as a new US study finds, can also raise your blood pressure.

When it comes to good health, it boils down to three essentials: diet, exercise, and sleep, all of which are critical to maintaining overall health, and specifically, a healthy blood pressure, the researchers said.

The study is the first to show that poor sleep independently raises the risk of high blood pressure, noted the researchers, regardless of sleep duration or other issues.

In the study, men who got the least deep sleep were 80 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure than those who got the most. Deep sleep patterns were measured a reduced speed of their brain waves--deep or "slow wave" sleep is also characterized by non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) from which it is difficult to awaken. People with poor-quality sleep spend reduced time in deep sleep.

The new study, announced August 29, is published online in the journal Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Previous studies have linked sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea to an increased risk of high blood pressure.

Need a better night's rest? Here are a few tried-and-true tips from health information website WebMD:

1. Cut caffeine - the effects of caffeine can take as long as eight hours to wear off.
2. Avoid alcohol as a sleep aid - it may initially help you fall asleep, but it can also lead to less-than-restful sleep.
3. Relax before bedtime - create a pre-sleep ritual, such as light stretching or a hot bath, to help you unwind from the day.
4. Exercise - regular exercise, usually in the mornings or afternoons, can help you sleep like a baby.
5. Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, and comfortable.