Can sleep deprivation raise your blood pressure?

People who structurally sleep fewer than six to seven hours per night have approximately 17% greater chance of developing high blood pressure. That figure comes from an analysis of more than five million people across 153 studies. It is a robust statistical association, but whether sleep deprivation actually causes higher blood pressure, or whether other factors are involved, has not yet been proven with certainty.

How sleep deprivation can push blood pressure up is partly understood. Measurements in people with sleep deprivation and in people with chronic sleep problems show increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, the part of the nervous system that controls, among other things, the heart and blood vessels. At the same time, stress hormones such as cortisol rise. Both effects drive blood pressure upward. Women appear to be more sensitive to this nervous system response. In addition, increased inflammatory activity and oxidative stress play a role as possible intermediate steps on the path to cardiovascular disease.

A mouse study also showed disrupted glucose metabolism after prolonged sleep fragmentation. This could indirectly contribute to blood pressure problems, but animal research of this kind cannot simply be translated one-to-one to humans.

For children and adolescents there is an indication that excessive screen use, by worsening sleep, increases the risk of high blood pressure. However, this evidence is indirect and no hard figures are available. It is an interesting signal, nothing more than that.