Sleep tight to avoid high blood pressure

According to a National Institutes of Health funded study of nearly 240 teens ages 13 to 16, those who had trouble failling asleep or who woke too early were 3-1/2 times more likely to have elevated blood pressure.

Sleeping fewer than 6-1/2 hours per night boosted risk 2-1/2 times. Experts found that 14 percent of the study participants actually had syptoms consistant with pre-hypertension - meaning they don’t have high blood pressure now but are likely to develop it in the future.

It is suggested that adolescents need about nine hours’ sleep a night.