Blood Pressure

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Pregnancy

63.     About 25% of woman expecting their first baby develop slightly raised BP in the last 3 months of pregnancy. The significance of mildly raised BP in pregnancy is uncertain but careful monitoring is crucial. Women taking birth control pills can also have high BP.

Medications

64.     Some medications, other than for hypertension, increase BP while others may interfere with effectiveness of hypertension drugs. Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, oral contraceptive pills have been implicated in some cases of escalating BP.

Noise

65.     A study by the University of Michigan has revealed that working in an atmosphere which has very high decibels (46-124) of sound can raise BP levels while the instantaneous peak noises (113-145 decibels) can affect heart rate.

Sleep/Snoring

66.     For many people who snore, the simple act of sleeping can raise the BP. People who snore heavily are much more likely to have high BP or angina than silent sleepers. Research suggests that snorers may suffer from a slight malfunctioning of part of the brain responsible for fluent breathing; this can put an unnatural strain on the heart and lungs due to oxygen shortage.

67.     If your snoring shakes the ceiling, you may have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition that is one of the root causes of elevated BP. OSA occurs when a person’s throat muscles relax to the point that they actually block the upper airway, resulting in a night of oxygen deprivation. This shortage of oxygen leads to constricted blood vessels, which in turn leads to elevated BP. A mild case of OSA, in which breathing stops for longer than 10 seconds upto 5 times an hour, increases the risk of developing hypertension by 40%. A bad case of OSA triples the risk.