Wouldn’t it be fantastic if a simple pill taken at night could relieve blood pressure while you slept? Well, a study in 2004 looked at this very possibility, considering the connection between Melatonin and high blood pressure.
Today high blood pressure is a disease, which is found through out the world. However this particular disease seems to be extremely prevalent in the US and Europe.
There are a number of reasons that this tends to be the case. It is believed that there are contributory factors that are synonymous with industrialized nations that contribute to the problems, including:
Being obese
Smoking
Excessive alcohol consumption
Lack of exercise
Too much salt in the diet, or a poor diet
Taking certain medicines, like steroids
A family history of high blood pressure
Suffering from Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes
Kidney problems
Long working hours in sedentary jobs
Normally, when diagnosed with high blood pressure the doctor will have the goal of reducing the hypertension to healthy levels, and a secondary goal of making sure that these levels are maintained.
This normally consists of medication to bring the levels down to safe levels quickly, and lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of reoccurrence. This can be a long process, and a number of the drugs can have some serious side effects. So, it is not surprising that people are looking for a natural way to healthily reduce their blood pressure levels.
Continue reading to discover how you can get a free copy of the Blood Pressure Relief Newsletter, full of information on how to relief blood pressure symptoms naturally.
In a study carried out and reported in the February 2004 edition of Hypertension Magazine it was revealed that use of melatonin at night an hour before sleep appeared to lower a person’s blood pressure.
Melatonin, which is a naturally occurring hormone, produced the pineal gland in the brain, plays an important part in regulating your body’s internal “clock”, also known as the circadian cycle or circadian rhythm.
The study lasted 3 weeks, and included 16 men who had elevated blood pressure. Half of the subject group where given 2.5mg of melatonin each day an hour before they went to bed, whilst the other half were given 2.5mg of melatonin on the first day of the study and then provided with a placebo there after for the rest of the 3 weeks.
The results of this small study showed that those who were taking the melatonin for the full 3 weeks had a significant reduction in blood pressure levels, whilst those that where taking the placebo recorded no changes.
So, the study concluded that melatonin may have the effect of reducing blood pressure if taken regularly at night before sleep.
However, there is some debate as to what actually caused the blood pressure to lower. Was it the melatonin or was it that the subjects who where given the melatonin had fuller, better quality sleep?
There have been some studies to show that if a person is sleep deprived then their blood pressure rises, so there is a connection between sleep and blood pressure that has been established.
Whatever the reason for the reduction in blood pressure, the trial was too small to derive sufficient evidence that melatonin can help lower blood pressure safely, and more research is required to provide the proof that is needed.
Unfortunately, further studies on the connection between melatonin and high blood pressure are likely to be funded. Melatonin is a naturally produced substance in the body, and as such cannot be patented. So, it is unlikely that a pharmaceutical company will go to the expense of a large and costly clinical trial to meet regulatory requirements.
Sign up for the free Relieve Blood Pressure Newsletter and discover new and natural methods to manage your high blood pressure symptoms. You can also find more about melatonin and high blood pressure and other research findings here.
