Sleeping pill use indicator of a future need for blood pressure medications

While it may help you to sleep, regular use of sleeping pill use linked to a greater need for blood pressure medications, a recent study suggests.

The association was observed regardless of sleep duration and quality, body mass index, diet, physical activity, and hypertension control.

The findings, published in the Journal of Geriatrics & Gerontology International, suggest that sleeping pill use may be an indicator of a future need for greater hypertension treatment and the need to investigate underlying sleep disorders or unhealthy lifestyles that may contribute to hypertension.

"Previous reports on associations of sleep characteristics with blood pressure and hypertension were focused on middle-aged adults; however these associations were absent or inconsistent among older adults," said Jose Banegas, senior of the study.