PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Prolonged shortened sleep increases blood pressure at night

2015-03-13
(Press-News.org) SAN DIEGO -- People exposed to prolonged periods of shortened sleep have significant increases in blood pressure during nighttime hours, Mayo Clinic researchers report in a small study of eight participants.

Results of the study will be presented Sunday, March 15, at the American College of Cardiology's 64th Annual Scientific Session in San Diego.

In this study, eight healthy, normal weight participants, ages 19 to 36, participated in a 16-day inpatient protocol, consisting of a four-day acclimation period followed by nine days of either sleep restriction (four hours of sleep per night) or normal sleep (nine hours of sleep per night), and three days of recovery. Twenty-four blood pressure monitoring at regular intervals was measured at each study phase.

During the nighttime, in the sleep restriction phase compared to the normal sleep phase, systolic (top number) and diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure averaged 115/64 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) versus 105/57 mm Hg, respectively, researchers found. Furthermore, the expected fall in blood pressure during the night was suppressed when subjects had inadequate sleep. They also found that nighttime heart rate was higher with sleep restriction than in normal sleep.

"We know high blood pressure, particularly during the night, is one of the major risk factors for heart disease, and Americans typically do not get enough sleep," says lead author Naima Covassin, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic cardiovascular diseases research fellow. "For the first time, we demonstrated that insufficient sleep causes increases in nighttime blood pressure and dampens nocturnal blood pressure dipping by using a controlled study that mimics the sleep loss experienced by many people".

INFORMATION:

These are data from an ongoing study conducted at Mayo Clinic, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

About Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to medical research and education, and providing expert, whole-person care to everyone who needs healing. For more information, visit http://mayocl.in/1ohJTMS, or http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/.

MEDIA CONTACT: Traci Klein, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-990-1182, at meeting; Klein.traci@mayo.edu; or 507-284-5005, email: newsbureau@mayo.edu



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Bariatric surgery appears to cut risks for serious asthma-related events

2015-03-13
A study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators suggests that bariatric surgery can significantly reduce the risk of asthma attacks - also called exacerbations - in obese patients with asthma. Their report, published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, is the first to find that significant weight reduction can reduce serious asthma-associated events. "We found that, in obese patients with asthma, the risk of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for asthma exacerbations decreased by half in the two years after bariatric ...

Nearly 70 percent of evangelicals do not view religion, science as being in conflict

2015-03-13
Media and popular culture might portray religion and science as being at odds, but new research from Rice University suggests just the opposite. Findings from the recently completed study "Religious Understandings of Science (RUS)" reveal that despite many misconceptions regarding the intersection of science and religion, nearly 70 percent of evangelical Christians do not view the two as being in conflict with each other. The research was presented by Rice sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund today in Washington, D.C., during the American Association for the Advancement ...

Common herpes medication reduces HIV-1 levels, independent of herpes infection

2015-03-13
Case Western Reserve researchers are part of an international team that has discovered that a common herpes drug reduces HIV-1 levels -- even when patients do not have herpes. Published online in Clinical Infectious Diseases, the finding rebuts earlier scientific assumptions that Valacyclovir (brand name, Valtrex) required the presence of the other infection to benefit patients with HIV-1. The result not only means that Valacyclovir can be used effectively with a broader range of HIV-1 patients, but also suggests promising new avenues for the development of HIV-fighting ...

New Mercury surface composition maps illuminate the planet's history

2015-03-13
Washington, D.C.-Two new papers from members of the MESSENGER Science Team provide global-scale maps of Mercury's surface chemistry that reveal previously unrecognized geochemical terranes -- large regions that have compositions distinct from their surroundings. The presence of these large terranes has important implications for the history of the planet. The MESSENGER mission was designed to answer several key scientific questions, including the nature of Mercury's geological history. Remote sensing of the surface's chemical composition has a strong bearing on this and ...

Solving the obstetrical dilemma

2015-03-13
Among the facts so widely assumed that they are rarely, if ever studied, is the notion that wider hips make women less efficient when they walk and run. For decades, this assumed relationship has been used to explain why women don't have wider hips, which would make childbirth easier and less dangerous. The argument, known as the "obstetrical dilemma," suggests that for millions of years female humans and their bipedal ancestors have faced an evolutionary trade-off in which selection for wider hips for childbirth has been countered by selection for narrower hips for ...

Georgetown legal scholar: E-cigarettes can be regulated now without more research

2015-03-13
WASHINGTON - A legal scholar and tobacco control expert says he has developed a research-based roadmap that allows for the immediate regulation of e-cigarettes. Writing in the March issue of Food and Drug Law Journal, Eric N. Lindblom, JD, senior scholar at the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, says his proposal would minimize the threats e-cigarettes pose to public health while still enabling them potentially help reduce smoking. "This approach could help to heal the current split in the public health community over e-cigarettes by addressing ...

York scientists question tropical protected areas' role under climate change

2015-03-13
New research led by University of York scientists highlights how poor connectivity of protected area (PA) networks in Southeast Asia may prevent lowland species from responding to climate change. Tropical species are shifting to higher elevations in response to rising temperatures, but there has been only limited research into the effectiveness of current protected area networks in facilitating such movements in the face of climate change. However, the new study, published in the journal Biological Conservation, focuses on the connectivity of the protected area network ...

Presentation is key in antenatal information, research suggests

2015-03-13
The font type of written text and how easy it is to read can be influential when it comes to engaging people with important health information and recruiting them for potentially beneficial programmes, new research by The University of Manchester and Leeds Beckett University has found. Led by Dr Andrew Manley, a Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist and Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Leeds Beckett, the study - published in the latest issue of Patient Education and Counseling journal - assessed the extent to which the title and font of participant ...

Novel monitoring tools tackle chemical surface waters pollution

2015-03-13
With the socio-economic developments of the last decades, new emerging compounds have been produced, released and discharged through different point and diffuse sources in European rivers, lakes, and marine-coastal and transitional waters. Treated municipal wastewaters contain a multitude of organic chemicals including pharmaceuticals, hormones, and personal care products, which are continuously introduced into aquatic ecosystems. Their possible effects on the environment and human health is often unknown. The exposure of organisms, communities and humans to mixtures of ...

Listening to classical music modulates genes that are responsible for brain functions

2015-03-13
Although listening to music is common in all societies, the biological determinants of listening to music are largely unknown. According to a latest study, listening to classical music enhanced the activity of genes involved in dopamine secretion and transport, synaptic neurotransmission, learning and memory, and down-regulated the genes mediating neurodegeneration. Several of the up-regulated genes were known to be responsible for song learning and singing in songbirds, suggesting a common evolutionary background of sound perception across species. Listening to music ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Making lighter work of calculating fluid and heat flow

Normalizing blood sugar can halve heart attack risk

Lowering blood sugar cuts heart attack risk in people with prediabetes

Study links genetic variants to risk of blinding eye disease in premature infants

Non-opioid ‘pain sponge’ therapy halts cartilage degeneration and relieves chronic pain

AI can pick up cultural values by mimicking how kids learn

China’s ecological redlines offer fast track to 30 x 30 global conservation goal

Invisible indoor threats: emerging household contaminants and their growing risks to human health

Adding antibody treatment to chemo boosts outcomes for children with rare cancer

Germline pathogenic variants among women without a history of breast cancer

Tanning beds triple melanoma risk, potentially causing broad DNA damage

Unique bond identified as key to viral infection speed

Indoor tanning makes youthful skin much older on a genetic level

Mouse model sheds new light on the causes and potential solutions to human GI problems linked to muscular dystrophy

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine ahead-of-print tip sheet: December 12, 2025

Smarter tools for peering into the microscopic world

Applications open for funding to conduct research in the Kinsey Institute archives

Global measure underestimates the severity of food insecurity

Child survivors of critical illness are missing out on timely follow up care

Risk-based vs annual breast cancer screening / the WISDOM randomized clinical trial

University of Toronto launches Electric Vehicle Innovation Ontario to accelerate advanced EV technologies and build Canada’s innovation advantage

Early relapse predicts poor outcomes in aggressive blood cancer

American College of Lifestyle Medicine applauds two CMS models aligned with lifestyle medicine practice and reimbursement

Clinical trial finds cannabis use not a barrier to quitting nicotine vaping

Supplemental nutrition assistance program policies and food insecurity

Switching immune cells to “night mode” could limit damage after a heart attack, study suggests

URI-based Global RIghts Project report spotlights continued troubling trends in worldwide inhumane treatment

Neutrophils are less aggressive at night, explaining why nighttime heart attacks cause less damage than daytime events

Menopausal hormone therapy may not pose breast cancer risk for women with BRCA mutations

Mobile health tool may improve quality of life for adolescent and young adult breast cancer survivors

[Press-News.org] Prolonged shortened sleep increases blood pressure at night