Sleep-related disorders up hypertension risk in postmenopausal women

Postmenopausal women with sleep-related disorders face increased risk of hypertension, according to a US-based study.

Researchers used data from the six6 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and identified 3,560 naturally postmenopausal women.

The associations of sleep duration, trouble sleeping, and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) symptoms with hypertension were examined using logistic regression models and restricted cubic splines. Stratified analyses were also conducted to explore the associations across subgroups defined by health-related factors.

Trouble sleeping and OSA were associated with 60-percent greater odds of hypertension among postmenopausal women (trouble sleeping: odds ratio [OR], 1.61, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.28–2.02; OSA: OR, 1.63, 95 percent CI, 1.13–2.37).

Meanwhile, sleep duration showed a U-shaped association with hypertension (p=0.0007 overall; p=0.0002 nonlinear), indicating that both insufficient and excessive sleep contributed to greater odds of hypertension.

Further analysis revealed that BMI moderated the association between sleep-related disorders and hypertension, with more pronounced effects observed in women with obesity (trouble sleeping: p=0.038 for interaction; OSA: p=0.044 for interaction).

The present data underscore the importance of sleep health and weight management in order to reduce the risk of hypertension in postmenopausal women.