Controlling high blood pressure may be the most important thing you can do to decrease your risk of stroke.  So you do everything you have been told to do- exercise, diet, maybe even take vitamins. But what if there was something, unbeknown to you, sabotaging your efforts to lower blood pressure?  Here are 5 things we don’t often associate with high blood pressure that could be keeping you from obtaining your blood pressure goals:

1. Not enough sleep

Getting less than 7 hours of sleep per night increases the risk of calcification in arteries, with calcified arteries found in one third of a study’s participants who slept less than 5 hours per night. While the study was not able to say that a lack of sleep actually causes the calcification, a strong association is definitely present. Who knew!

2. TV

Watching more than 2 hours a day of television has been shown to make a child 2.5 times more likely to develop hypertension, and those who watched more than 4 hours per day of TV were 3.3 times more likely to become hypertensive. Although this study focused on children, it is probably safe to say that if you spend a lot of time in front of the TV you aren’t getting the exercise you should, which in turn could negatively impact your blood pressure.

3. Loneliness

Loneliness could be directly tied to high systolic blood pressure, possibly as much as 30 points systolic, in some older Americans. On the flip side, laughter has been shown to actually encourage better artery function. The bottom line? Grab a favorite comedy film and invite a few buddies to watch it with you- there is a good chance it could help lower your blood pressure!

4. Sleep Apnea

About half of the people with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (the most common type) also have hypertension and there is mounting evidence indicating that treatment of sleep apnea via CPAP machines can significantly reduce blood pressure. Sleep Apnea has been tied to endothelial dysfunction and increased sympathetic activity, a known contributor to hypertension. So if you are told you snore a lot, are a restless sleeper and wake up feeling tired, it may be worth having a sleep study done to find out if you suffer from sleep apnea.

5. Fructose

Consuming 74 grams a day of fructose in the form of added sugars (the natural ones in fruit don’t count), or the equivalent of 2.5 sugary soft drinks, has been associated with a 36% higher risk of blood pressure of 140/90 or higher. It is possible that the fructose could lower nitric oxide production and/or raise uric acid in the blood.

For more information:

http://zona.com/lower-blood-pressure/index.php/not-enough-sleep-may-harden-arteries/

http://zona.com/lower-blood-pressure/index.php/tv-high-blood-pressure-children/

http://zona.com/lower-blood-pressure/index.php/loneliness-high-blood-pressure/

http://zona.com/lower-blood-pressure/index.php/sleep-apnea-and-high-blood-pressure/

http://zona.com/lower-blood-pressure/index.php/fructose-may-raise-high-blood-pressure-risk/