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Pills for blood pressure to be taken at bedtime

Pills for blood pressure to be taken at bedtime

Pills for high blood pressure work best when they are taken at bedtime, a new Spanish study suggests.

 

The pills offer more protection against heart attacks and strokes when taken at bedtime rather than in the morning, show the data, published in the European Heart Journal, BBC reports.

 

Blood pressure should naturally dip at night, as we rest and sleep. If it doesn't and remains consistently high, that puts you at increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, experts say.

 

Medication in the evening helps keep night-time blood pressure in check

 

The research suggests taking the medication in the evening helps keep night-time blood pressure in check, in patients diagnosed with high blood pressure.

 

Patients in the study who took their medication at bedtime had significantly lower average blood pressure both at night and during the day, and their blood pressure dipped more at night when compared with patients taking their medication each morning.

 

Current guidelines do not recommend any preferred treatment time

 

Current guidelines on the treatment of hypertension do not recommend any preferred treatment time. Morning ingestion has been the most common recommendation by physicians based on the misleading goal of reducing morning blood pressure levels”,  comments Lead researcher Prof Ramon Hermida, from the University of Vigo.  He says doctors might want to consider recommending it to patients: "It's totally cost-free. It might save a lot of lives”.

Experts believe our body's biological 'clock' or natural 24-hour rhythm alters our response to the medication.

 

This latest trial is the largest so far to look at the phenomenon with high blood pressure pills, and included more than 19,000 people on these medications.

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