Study objectives: To determine how aging affects the impact of sleep deprivation on blood pressure at rest and under orthostatic challenge.
Design: Subjects underwent a night of sleep and 24.5 h of sleep deprivation in a crossover counterbalanced design.
Setting: Sleep laboratory.
Participants: Sixteen healthy normotensive men and women: 8 young adults (mean 24 years [SD 3.1], range 20-28 years) and 8 elderly adults (mean 64.1 years [SD 3.4], range 60-69 years).
Interventions: Sleep deprivation.
Measurements and results: Brachial cuff arterial blood pressure and heart rate were measured in semi-recumbent and upright positions. These measurements were compared across homeostatic sleep pressure conditions and age groups. Sleep deprivation induced a significant increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in elderly but not young adults. Moreover, sleep deprivation attenuated the systolic blood pressure orthostatic response in both age groups.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that sleep deprivation alters the regulatory mechanisms of blood pressure and might increase the risk of hypertension in healthy normotensive elderly.
Keywords: Sleep deprivation; aging; blood pressure; hypertension.