Rafiq Islam, (Kansas City): A clinical trial published in the European Heart Journal revealed that taking blood pressure-lowering medications at bedtime, as opposed to first thing in the morning may stabilize blood pressure at night and throughout the day, reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke and death. The study was conducted in 40 primary care centers across northern Spain for an average of six years and collected data from 19,084 people with high blood pressure. Of them, 10,614 were men and 8,470 women between the ages of 46 and 74. Half were assigned to take their hypertension medications at bedtime, while the other half took in the morning. The medications used in the trial include ramipril, sold as Altace, valsartan, sold as Diovan, and amlodipine, sold as Norvasc.

The results obtained are remarkable. The heart attacks reduced by 66%, heart failure by 58%, strokes by 51% and death from cardiovascular disease by 44% in the “Bedtime” group compared to the “Morning” group The data was adjusted for characteristics such as age, sex, cholesterol levels and other diseases. The reasons for this, according to some cardiologists, is that taking blood pressure medication at bedtime reduces blood pressure levels during sleeping hours, when most heart attacks and cardiovascular events occur. Usually blood pressure lowers on its own while sleeping, but rises a few hours before waking due to a rush of hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline being released. Blood pressure for individuals with hypertension tends to not go down and are prone to having heart attacks as they starts to wake up.