While there has been evidence for a link between sleep disturbance and blood pressure this study measured actual sleep using Actiwatch (similar to our Sleeptracker). The study involved 578 adults tracked for five years between 2000 and 2006.
The study shows that shorter sleep duration and low sleep quality predicts significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure both at baseline and over 5 years of change. Short sleep duration also predicted a 37% increase in incident (one off readings) hypertension.
The author concludes that 5 or 6 hours is not enough and 7 hours should be a minimum. She believes that our work culture gives limited sleep a "badge of honour". Specifically, people who appear to need 3 or 4 hours are simply kidding themselves and do not do well in performance tests.
Future studies will be looking at the impact of improved sleep on blood pressure.
COMMENT: This is good support for our long held advice to structure at least 7 hours sleep into you day with a regular wake up time and regular go to sleep time. Those who are concerned about tracking progress should definitely consider
Sleeptracker.