In life, this conversation often occurs: a person wakes up, rubs his head and says, “My blood pressure is a little high today.” In most cases, the listener will ask, “Did you not sleep well last night?” It is clear that the relationship between sleep and blood pressure is well established. The risk of high blood pressure is 31% higher if you don’t get 5 hours of sleep. Many studies have confirmed this, and some high blood pressure is indeed closely related to sleep. A five-year follow-up survey involving 10,000 adults in the UK found that women who slept less than six hours had a 42% higher risk of high blood pressure compared to women who slept more than seven hours a night, and those who always slept less than five hours had a 31% higher risk of developing high blood pressure. A follow-up study of older men at Harvard University found that older men who slept the shortest amount of time were 80 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure than those who slept the longest. Under normal circumstances, blood pressure at night is lower than daytime levels, but lack of sleep or poor sleep quality can cause elevated blood pressure levels at night, mainly due to abnormally high sympathetic excitability, and can also lead to an early morning blood pressure peak, which can then affect blood pressure throughout the day. The abnormal fluctuation of blood pressure will in turn affect the quality of sleep, forming a vicious circle. Thus, quality sleep is a good medicine to stabilize blood pressure. Sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome and hypertension It is important to note that there is another sleep-related disease, sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome (SAHS), which can significantly affect sleep quality and is also a risk factor for hypertension, typically manifested by snoring. Data show that 50% to 92% of SAHS patients have hypertension in combination, and 30% to 50% of hypertensive patients have SAHS at the same time. most SAHS patients are overweight and have a thick and short neck. SAHS increases the risk of hypertension, mainly because it increases the heart rate, increases the contraction of the heart muscle and increases the load on the heart. The blood pressure is significantly higher at night and early in the morning, but lower during the day and at bedtime, so some patients are not easily detected. SAHS hypertension is often “stubborn” and requires careful adjustment of the regimen by an experienced physician. Of course, if the snoring is only mild, it does not matter much, but if the person is obese and has frequent apnea in sleep, polysomnography should be performed to clarify the diagnosis. Once the diagnosis is confirmed, one should actively lose weight, quit smoking and limit alcohol, avoid overexertion, and be advised to change the sleeping position from supine to side lying. Through treatment and lifestyle modification, SAHS is relieved and greatly helps to control blood pressure, and to a certain extent, the use of antihypertensive drugs can be reduced and may even be discontinued. Given the shear relationship between sleep and hypertension, it is important to ensure quality sleep in order to have smooth blood pressure. In life, you may want to make an effort to get a good night’s sleep every night by exercising regularly, improving your sleep environment, and smoothing your mood. Blood pressure, which is very dangerous to the health of patients, is no more serious than the complication of stroke. Since this complication often occurs at night, the result is that patients are often left with serious sequelae and even die because of untimely resuscitation. Therefore, patients with hypertension should arrange their sleep reasonably well in their lives to improve sleep quality and reduce blood pressure fluctuations in order to avoid strokes. So, how can hypertensive patients improve the quality of sleep? (1) Dinner should be less: Patients with hypertension should eat less at dinner, and should mainly eat easily digestible food, and can be accompanied by some light soups, do not be afraid to drink water or dare not eat porridge because of fear of urinating more at night. Because of insufficient water intake, the patient’s blood can become sticky, coupled with less activity at night, it is easy to form blood clots. Some hypertensive patients often eat and drink at dinner without fear, resulting in an increased burden on the gastrointestinal tract, causing indigestion and affecting the quality of sleep. This is very bad for keeping blood pressure stable. (2) Entertainment to moderate: hypertensive patients should be moderate and moderate recreational activities before bedtime, which is a point to which hypertensive patients must pay attention. Such as playing chess, mahjong, playing poker to limit the time, generally 1 to 2 hours is appropriate, and pay attention to control the emotions, not too excited. When doing outdoor activities, you can choose to walk and other activities that are not too strenuous, and the activity time should not be too long. Watching TV should also be controlled, should not sit in front of the TV screen for a long time, and do not watch programs with too much excitement, otherwise, the patient’s emotional excitement will affect the quality of sleep, and will lead to an increase in blood pressure. (3) to iron feet before going to bed: patients should go to bed on time, and should get into the habit of ironing their feet with warm water before going to bed, which can promote blood circulation and help to lift the fatigue of the day, thus improving the quality of sleep. In addition, patients should try to use less or no sleeping pills, and strive to fall asleep naturally to keep blood pressure stable. If hypertensive patients can do the above three things, they can improve the quality of sleep and reduce blood pressure fluctuations. In addition, in order to reduce blood pressure fluctuations, when hypertensive patients wake up in the morning, do not rush to get up, should first maintain a supine position, gently move the limbs and head and neck in bed, so that the limb muscles and vascular smooth muscle to restore the appropriate tension, and then get up, which can avoid causing dizziness. When getting up, move slowly and move your upper limbs a few times before getting out of bed, so that your blood pressure will not fluctuate too much. As long as blood pressure remains stable, people with hypertension can reduce the incidence of stroke.