Divorce could lead to high blood pressure: study
21 Jul 2014
Divorce and sleep orders following a separation not only leaves people with dark circles under their eyes, but could also cause dangerous increases in blood pressure, leading to serious illness.
A study conducted by a University of Arizona team involving 138 people who were newly-divorced or separated focused on how well they were sleeping.
The blood pressure of the subjects was also taken three times over a seven and a half month period. People who regularly had trouble sleeping, saw their blood pressure increase a few months later.
Mailonline quoted Kendra Krietsch, the study's project manager, as saying if somebody was going through a divorce and unable to sleep, they needed to get medical help or it could lead to problems.
She added stressful events like divorce or others of the kind occurred in everyone's lives, which showed how important it was for all to value sleep and take care of themselves.
Another of the report's authors, David Sbarra, added sleep problems up to about 10 weeks after separation, did not appear to be associated with future increase in blood pressure.
In the initial few months after a separation, sleep problems were probably pretty normal and this was an adjustment process that people could typically cope with well, IANS reported.
However, sleep problems that persisted for an extended period might indicate depression, Sbarra said.
Sbarra said the researchers noted that changes in resting blood pressure were associated with sleep problems three months earlier. He added, earlier sleep problems predicted increases in resting blood pressure over time.
Also the researchers found that the longer sleep problems in people persisted after their separation, the more likely those problems were to have an adverse effect on the blood pressure.
According to Krietsch, people who had persistent difficulties sleeping after a divorce needed to find new ways to relax at bedtime.
The study will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Health Psychology.
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