Sleep tight no matter your age

Just as sleep is crucial to the health of adults, new research suggests that lack of sleep may affect teens' health too.



Ohio researchers found that otherwise healthy teens who slept less than 6.5 hours a night were 2.5 times more likely than those who slept longer to have elevated blood pressure.The study, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, also revealed that the systolic blood pressure of teens with "low sleep efficiency"-a measure of sleep quality defined as "having trouble falling or staying asleep"- was,on average, four points higher than that of teens who slept well.And the sleep-deprived were 3.5 times more likely to have prehypertension or hypertension. Although further study is needed, researchers caution that untreated hypertension can increase the risk of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases later in life.