Loud snoring could be more than an annoyance- it may be a warning sign of dangerous hypertension.
New research from Flinders University has found that people, particularly overweight middle-aged men, who snore at night regularly are more likely to have elevated blood pressure and uncontrolled hypertension.
The study, published in the prestigious Nature Digital Medicine journal is the largest objective study and the first to use multiple night home-based monitoring technologies over a prolonged period to explore the association between snoring and hypertension.
“For the first time, we can objectively say that there is a significant connection between regular nighttime snoring and high blood pressure,” says lead author Dr Bastien Lechat from the College of Medicine and Public Health.
“We found that 15 per cent of all participants in the study, who were primarily overweight men, snore for more than 20 per cent of the night on average and that this regular nightly snoring is associated with elevated blood pressure and uncontrolled hypertension,” says Dr Lechat.
“These results emphasise the significance of considering snoring as a factor in healthcare and treatment for sleep-related issues, especially in the context of managing hypertension.”
Snoring is a common occurrence, affecting a large percentage of the population, and is often underestimated in terms of its negative health implications. Snoring and sleep apnoea often overlap indicating shared common causes.
“We observed that in those who snore regularly the risk of having uncontrolled hypertension was almost double. This risk almost doubled again in people who snored regularly and had sleep apnoea versus those who did not snore regularly,” says Professor Danny Eckert, Director of Sleep Health at Flinders University and senior author of the paper.
