Trouble falling asleep may signal high blood pressure

Trouble sleeping, especially trouble falling asleep, may be associated with high blood pressure, according to a new study from China.

This is the first study to show that certain people with insomnia are at risk for high blood pressure, said co-authors Dr. Xiangdong Tang of Sichuan University in China and Dr. Alexandros N. Vgontzas of Penn State University College of Medicine, in a statement to Reuters Health.

Insomnia with increased alertness during the day, or hyperarousal, is associated with increased chronic secretion of stress hormones like cortisol, which may lead to hypertension, they wrote.

The authors studied about 300 adults, including more than 200 chronic insomniacs who’d had trouble sleeping for at least six months. They all spent one night in the Sleep Medicine Center of West China Hospital and took a sleepiness/alertness test the following day.

At night, they were allowed to sleep as they normally would, in sound, light and temperature-controlled rooms. The next day, they were given four 20-minute nap opportunities throughout the day. Researchers measured their “sleep latency,” that is, the amount of time it took for the nappers to actually fall asleep, if they were able.

Researchers also took their blood pressure readings in the evening and in the morning.

Normal sleepers were no more likely to have high blood pressure even if they took longer to fall asleep for a nap.

For chronic insomniacs, the longer it took to fall asleep when they tried to nap during the day, the more likely they were to have high blood pressure, even after accounting for age, gender, weight and height, diabetes, and use of alcohol, tobacco and caffeine.

Compared to normal sleepers who fell asleep quickly, people with insomnia who took more than 14 minutes to fall asleep during the day were three times as likely to have high blood pressure readings or a doctor’s diagnosis of hypertension, the authors report in the journal Hypertension.

People who fell asleep in less than 14 minutes, regardless of whether or not they had insomnia, had no increased risk of high blood pressure.

About half of insomniacs and a third of the normal sleepers took more than 14 minutes to fall asleep during the day, Tang and Vgontzas wrote in the statement.

People who have trouble sleeping should ask their doctors about their blood pressure readings, they wrote.

“Insomniacs who have either short sleep at night or show signs of hyperalertness during the day are at risk for hypertension,” they wrote. “This is similar to someone who has other risk factors such as obesity, high lipids, smoking, etc.”

The United States Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening for high blood pressure for all adults over the age of 18 every year or so, regardless of sleep patterns, USPSTF chair Dr. Michael LeFevre noted in an email to Reuters Health.

Blood pressure screening causes few major harms, LeFevre said.

“However, many people who have high blood pressure in (a doctor’s) office setting do not have sustained high blood pressure outside of a medical setting,” he said. “Making the diagnosis of hypertension based only on office readings may lead to unnecessary treatment.”

Blood pressure measurements should be repeated outside the doctor’s office during the course of the day to confirm high blood pressure before diagnosing hypertension, he said.

Most people will need help from a doctor or sleep expert to start falling asleep more quickly, Tang and Vgontzas wrote.

source: interaksyon.com

TV host Paolo Ballesteros hospitalized for ‘mild stroke’

In a post that appeared in both his Twitter and Instagram accounts Monday night, TV host Paolo Ballesteros let his followers know that he was confined at the Marikina Valley Medical Center.

The post read, “Staying in tonight. Marikina Valley Medical Center. hyper tension daw. transient schemic attack. mild stroke pero hindi naman nagprogress. salamat naman. doing some lab tests tomorrow. 200 ang bp antandaaa ko na!! hehe. feeling better now. Thanks.”

At least several Instagram users, presumably Paolo’s friends and the official Instagram account of his GMA noontime show “Eat Bulaga”, were also tagged in the post.

Included in the post is a photo collage of Paolo himself and snapshots of his hospital sheet or pillow with the logo of the hospital, his arm receiving dextrose via the intravenous route and his hospital bracelet with his name on it.

What made Paolo’s post particularly intriguing was the hash tag #bangkokpillspahihistopmuna, suggesting that he had been taking the slimming pills designed to suppress one’s appetite and it might have caused his mild stroke.

Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration warned against the sale and use of Bangkok pills not only because it is not authorized by the FDA but also because it contains substances like ephedrine, bisacodyl, furosemide, phentermine and fenfluramine that are not safe for public consumption and may cause side effects like hallucination, paranoia, insomnia, respiratory problems, hypertension and development of heart valve abnormalities, kidney failure and even death.

At least one of Paolo’s fellow Dabarkads in “Eat Bulaga”, Ruby Rodriguez tweeted this message of support for him:

source: interaksyon.com

Bridging the nutritional gap

MANILA, Philippines - Diabetes, hypertension, obesity — more and more people are getting afflicted with these so-called “lifestyle diseases.”

As a result, their performance at work or at play is impaired. What is causing the increasing number of cases of lifestyle diseases? According to the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), an unhealthy diet is a key factor in the prevalence of these conditions.

Vitamins and minerals are necessary for proper food metabolism. When people do not get the right amount of vitamins and minerals into their body, they are unable to efficiently turn the proteins and carbohydrates that they eat into energy. This is why even though they eat so much, they still feel weak and get tired quickly.

Vitamins and minerals are also needed to strengthen the immune system. When people have a shortage of important vitamins and minerals in our body, their immune system is less than optimal and they become vulnerable to illness.

This unhealthy diet creates a vicious cycle: when people feel sick or weak or tired, they lose their drive to engage in healthy physical activities such as sports or exercise. Even simple things such as walking or climbing stairs become tiresome. This leads to a sedentary lifestyle, where they feel that changing their diet and physical routine is too great an effort, so, it’s not surprising that their health and our quality of life suffer.

Lack of nutrients

 Based on the 2008 FNRI National Nutrition Survey, more than 70 percent of Filipinos across populations groups lack vitamins A and C, calcium, and iron in their daily diet.

For example, the FNRI’s Recommended Nutrient Intake (RENI) on a daily basis for vitamin A is 550 micrograms for male adults (aged 19 to 65 and above), and 500 micrograms for female adults (aged 19 to 65 and above).

However, the 2008 survey shows that actual average vitamin A intake among Filipino adults is just 499.6 micrograms, while the elderly only take in 379.9 micrograms daily.

In the case of vitamin C, the RENI for male adults (aged 19 to 65+) is 75 milligrams while the RENI for female adults (aged 19 to 65+) is 70 milligrams.

The 2008 survey, however, shows that on the average, Filipino adults only consume 44.7 milligrams of vitamin C daily, while the elderly consume 44.5 milligrams daily.

As for calcium, the RENI for male adults is 750 milligrams for those aged 19 to 64, and 800 milligrams for those aged 65 and above. The RENI for female adults is 750 grams for those aged 19 to 49, and 800 grams for those aged 50 and above.

According to the 2008 FNRI survey, the actual average daily calcium consumption among adults is only 370 milligrams, while the elderly only consume 330 milligrams of calcium every day.

Iron consumption among Filipino adults is also below the RENI. The RENI for iron among male adults aged 19 to 65 and above is 12 milligrams. The RENI for iron among non-pregnant female adults aged 19 to 64 is 27 milligrams, and for those aged 65 and above, 10 milligrams.

Actual average iron consumption among Filipino adults, however, was found to be only at 9.4 milligrams daily, while the average consumption among the elderly was even lower at 7.5 milligrams a day.

The 2008 FNRI survey also found that 65 percent of Filipinos across population groups are not taking enough calories to meet their daily energy requirement.

The RENI pegs the energy requirements for Filipino male adults as follows: 19 to 29 years old, 2,490 kilocalories (kcal); 30 to 49 years old, 2,420 kcal; 50 to 64 years old, 2,170 kcal; and 65 years old and above, 1,890 kcal.

For female adults, the energy requirements are: 19 to 29 years old, 1,860 kcal; 30 to 49 years old, 1,810 kcal; 50 to 64 years old, 1,820 kcal; and 65 years old and above, 1,410 kcal.

On the average, however, Filipino adults only consume 1,915 kcal daily while the elderly consume even less, with only 1,436 kcal daily.

According to FNRI’s computation, these figures mean that 65 percent of Filipinos are not getting enough energy for their everyday activities.

So how do people change to a healthy lifestyle and be at their best? Obviously, they need to commit themselves first to a healthy diet. The FNRI website (www.fnri.dost.gov.ph) provides an illustrated, dietary guide called the Filipino Food Pyramid to help people make the right food choices for optimum health and nutrition.

 Besides switching to a healthy diet, Filipinos also need to take health supplements to fill in the nutrition gaps on days when, for one reason or another, one’s food choices are less than ideal.

There are encouraging signs that more and more Filipinos are becoming educated about the value of nutritional supplements and they are taking more of these. FNRI surveys show in 2003, only 22.9 percent of Filipinos said they took health supplements. In 2008, that figure had risen to 46.8 percent.

The top two reasons these people gave for taking supplements were health and extra energy. Other reasons were “doctor-recommended,” “perform better in school/work,” and “not getting enough vitamins from the diet.”

To get the maximum benefits from a vitamin and mineral supplement, make sure to choose one that has complete nutritional content.  Centrum is complete and specially balanced with 30 vitamins and minerals the body needs, from vitamin A to zinc. For adults aged 50 and above, on the other hand, Centrum Silver’s age-adjusted formula is perfect for the changing needs in their golden years.

source: philstar.com