Regular Bedtimes May Help Lower Blood Pressure

• Researchers report that a regular bedtime schedule can help lower a person’s blood pressure.
• High blood pressure can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, vision loss, and kidney disease.
• Quality sleep can be attained with a consistent bedtime, avoidance of caffeine and alcohol in the evening, and increasing exposure to sunlight during the day.

Going to bed at the same time every night can help lower your blood pressure, a new study suggests.

Researchers report that participants in a small study experienced significant decreases in their overall blood pressure, as well as their nighttime readings, after adjusting their schedules to go to bed at approximately the same time every evening.

“This [regular bedtime] may be a simple, yet low-risk, adjunctive strategy to control [blood pressure] in many people with hypertension,” the study authors wrote.

The researchers recently published their findings in the journal Sleep Advances.

The researchers noted their study involved only 11 people and was done over a two-week period with no control group as a contrast. They acknowledged their hypothesis needs to be tested in larger randomized controlled trials.

Experts not involved in the study say that despite the limited size of this study, the results were significant enough to warrant attention.

“This is a useful study in that such a simple intervention can have such a significant impact,” said Cheng-Han Chen, MD, an interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA.

“While limited by its non-randomized design and small study cohort, the trial’s results highlight potential for improving hypertension control through a low-cost, easily scalable intervention, and should encourage further investigation through randomized clinical trials,” added Brian Brady, MD, a nephrologist and a clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford University.

To reach their conclusions, the researchers recruited 11 people with hypertension to participate in their study.

Seven of the subjects were female, and four were male. Their age range was 45 to 62 years, with a mean age of 53 years.

Before the study, the participants’ bedtimes varied nightly by an average of 30 minutes. During the two-week study, that variability decreased to seven minutes.

Participants were instructed to maintain a consistent sleep schedule, sleeping for approximately the same amount of time each evening, without taking any daytime naps.

The researchers reported that the regular bedtime schedule reduced the participants’ 24-hour systolic blood pressure reading (the top number) by an average of 4 points. Their diastolic blood pressure reading (the bottom number) dropped by an average of 3 points.

The researchers said the decreases were mainly due to lower nighttime systolic blood pressure readings and overall diastolic blood pressure measurements.

They added that more than half of the participants recorded significant reductions in blood pressure readings.

The researchers noted that a 5-point reduction in nighttime blood pressure can lower cardiovascular event risks by more than 10%.

The researchers theorize that irregular bedtimes disrupt the body’s circadian rhythm, which regulates both sleep-wake cycles and cardiovascular function.

They explained that blood pressure normally decreases during nighttime sleep, and people whose blood pressure doesn’t dip adequately face higher cardiovascular risks.

“This is a good proof-of-concept study… [but] for it to be validated it will need to be tested out in larger randomized control studies and for longer periods of time to gauge the true effects on blood pressure reduction,” Nissi Suppogu, MD, a cardiologist and the medical director of the Women’s Heart Center at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Long Beach Medical Center in California.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 48% of adults in the United States (nearly 120 million people) have high blood pressure, which is described as a blood pressure reading of higher than 130 on the top number or higher than 80 on the lower number.

The agency notes that high blood pressure was a contributing factor in more than 660,000 deaths in the United States in 2023.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, can develop over several years before symptoms emerge. It occurs when the force of blood pushing through vessels is consistently too high. Many times, this is caused because arteries have narrowed.

There are a number of factors that can contribute to the development of hypertension. Here are some of them.

• Genetics: Some people are genetically predisposed to high blood pressure.
• Age: People more than 65 years old are more at risk for hypertension.
• Race: Black people have a higher incidence of hypertension in the United States.
• Weight: Obesity can lead to a few cardiovascular issues, including hypertension.
• Alcohol: Research concludes that even one drink per day can increase your risk of hypertension.
• Sedentary lifestyle: A lack of exercise has been linked to several cardiovascular issues, including hypertension.
• Sodium: There’s a close link between daily high sodium intake (more than 5 grams a day) and hypertension.

Since high blood pressure can go undetected for years, it can cause serious complications if left untreated. Among the potential issues:

“High blood pressure is known to cause many serious complications,” Chen told Healthline.

Suppogu emphasizes the importance of maintaining healthy blood pressure, which cannot be overstated.

“High blood pressure is one of the important modifiable risk factors for cardiac outcomes,” she told Healthline. “It is important to understand that hypertension can damage the arteries and if untreated causes a lot of end organ damage including stroke, heart attack, heart failure, and kidney failure.”

Certain lifestyle factors can help reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure. These include:

“Blood pressure control is among the most well-accepted strategies for reducing patients’ risk of developing kidney disease, heart disease, or suffering a stroke,” Brady told Healthline.

It’s recommended that adults obtain between 7–9 hours of sleep each night.

However, it’s estimated that 50 to 70 million people in the United States have some sort of sleep disorder. In addition, surveys indicate that 1 in 3 U.S. adults doesn’t get the recommended amount of uninterrupted sleep on a regular basis.

There are a variety of methods you can employ to help you sleep more soundly at night. Here are some of recommendations:

• increase sunlight exposure during the day
• reduce blue light exposure during the evening hours
• no caffeine late in the day
• avoid alcohol in the evening
• go to sleep and wake up at about the same time each day
• avoid long naps
• have a comfortable bed and pillow

The darkness of your sleeping quarters can also be a factor. A study published earlier this month reported that sleeping in total darkness can improve the quality of your slumber.

“There are simple things you can do that can likely be quite helpful for sleep,” said Chen.

“Sleep experts recommend simple steps to improving sleep quality, such as getting regular exercise, establishing a regular bedtime routine that emphasizes calm, and putting electronic screens away at least 30 minutes before falling asleep,” added Brady.

Suppogu agreed with this advice and has additional tips.

“It is very important to have good sleep hygiene to achieve good sleep,” she said.

“You can start off by having set routines. Have alarms to remind you to start winding down to go to bed 20 to 30 minutes before having to sleep. Going to bed at the same time every day and waking up at the same time also helps train your circadian rhythm. It is important to create an environment to sleep well by dimming lights, avoiding bright lights, avoiding screen time, and putting your phone on silence. Maybe taking a book to read or having a warm bath could also help,” Suppogu concluded.