A new development in cardiac health could lead to a drastic improvement in your risk of heart attack and stroke, and all it takes is a little change in your daily routine.
According to MSNBC, Spanish researchers have discovered that instead of taking blood pressure medication in the morning, it may be best to do it before bed, as it allegedly cuts the risk of cardiovascular issues by more than 65 percent.
One reason for the timing is that statistically, most heart attacks occur in the morning. Blood pressure changes throughout the day as well, depending on who you ask. Many medical professionals and researchers’ opinions vary on the latter topic.
“Mother Nature had in mind that when we went to sleep at night our heart rate and blood pressure would decline” to help the body rest, Michael Smolensky, of the University of Texas at Austin’s biomedical engineering department, told the news provider.
While some experts, including study author Ramon Hermida, maintain that nighttime hypertension treatments are the “most effective, cost-free approach to obtain the goal of greater sleep blood pressure reduction,” Hermida and Smolensky both stress that every patient should be individually assessed by their care provider. It is important that each case is looked at separately, rather than generalizing treatments, because some patients may experience too much of a decline in their blood pressure if they take the medication before bed.
“Ours is just the very first trial ever testing the influence on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality of awakening vs. bedtime hypertension treatment,” Hermida told the source. “Further studies will be needed to corroborate our findings.”
