Hypertension

Arterial hypertension, the most prevalent cardiovascular disease, affects approximately 1 billion individuals worldwide. As the population ages it is expected that the number of affected subjects will further increase; therefore broad and effective preventive measures are needed. There is a growing body of evidence that sleep disruption may increase the risk of incident hypertension and cardiovascular morbidity. Sleep deprivation alone may result in higher blood pressure and higher prevalence of hypertension. One of the commonest sleep disorders, obstructive sleep apnea, may compromise cardiovascular control beyond the effects of sleep disruption per se. Sleep apnea has also been linked independently to target organ damage, usually ascribed to hypertension alone.