Importance of sleep blood pressure

Abstract

1. Blood pressure varies throughout the day and night and is maintained at different times by different control systems. 2. During the awake interval, the sympathetic nervous system is preeminent but during sleep the renin angiotensin system is the controller. 3. Sleep blood pressure is a more powerful predictor of non-haemorrhagic cerebro- and cardiovascular events in animals and humans, despite the sleep value being lower than the day value. 4. Drugs that act independently of the hormonal or neural systems, such as diuretics and calcium channel blockers, have similar effects during sleep and awake intervals. Beta-blockers have little effect during sleep when the activity of the sympathetic..