A consistent bedtime may play a meaningful role in lowering blood pressure, according to new research examining how sleep timing affects cardiovascular health.

While most people think primarily about getting enough hours of sleep, experts say when you sleep also has an important effect on heart health.

Dr. William Lu, medical director at Dreem Health in San Francisco, told Fox News Digital that sleep duration and sleep timing work together, and that consistency is a key part of supporting cardiovascular wellness.

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“Both matter, but growing evidence shows regularity — going to sleep and waking at roughly the same times night-to-night — is an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk even after accounting for total sleep time,” Lu said.

Recent findings have supported that connection. In a study published in the journal Sleep Advances, adults with high blood pressure who kept a consistent bedtime for two weeks saw modest but meaningful improvements in their readings, even though they did not sleep longer hours.

Participants reduced their night-to-night bedtime variability from about 30 minutes to only a few minutes, and researchers said that simple change helped restore healthier blood pressure overnight.

Even a modest nighttime drop in systolic pressure can lower cardiovascular risk, experts say.

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The concept is supported by research into circadian rhythms and the body’s natural blood-pressure patterns.

“Consistent bed and wake times keep your internal circadian clock synchronized to Earth’s day-night cycle,” Lu said.

A steady sleep schedule helps the body release important hormones, like melatonin and cortisol, at the right times, which supports the natural rise and fall of blood pressure throughout the day and night, according to the doctor.

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Disruptions in sleep timing can affect blood pressure more quickly than many people realize, Lu warned. While some people assume that shifting their bedtime on weekends or staying up late occasionally has little impact, the expert said the body responds almost immediately.

For people trying to build a more consistent sleep routine, Lu recommends starting with the morning wake-up time.

“Start with a fixed wake time every day, including weekends, and anchor the schedule with morning light exposure — then set a consistent bedtime that gives you enough sleep before that wake time,” he advised. “Pick a wake time you can sustain and get 30 minutes of morning light after waking up.”

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He also recommends adding a brief wind-down routine before bed and cutting back on stimulants and screen use in the evening.

Improving sleep timing is a low-risk change that may help lower blood pressure, Lu said, adding that consistent bedtimes should be used in addition to anti-hypertensive medications, not as a substitute.

Potential limitations

The study did have some limitations, the researchers acknowledged.

The sample size was relatively small, consisting of 11 middle-aged adults with obesity and hypertension. It was also a two-week period, which means researchers could measure only short-term changes.

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The study also lacked a control group or randomization, so it couldn’t prove that the blood-pressure improvements were caused by more consistent bedtimes or by other lifestyle factors, such as diet, stress or medication changes. Larger, longer-term studies are needed to confirm the findings.

Anyone considering changes to their sleep schedule for blood-pressure benefits should first speak with a doctor.

A lack of socializing may be a major risk factor for neurological disorders in older adults.

New research from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, has considered how “social frailty” can be a predictor of dementia.

The study, published in The Journals of Gerontology, looked at data from 851 people over the age of 70 in Sydney’s suburbs who did not have dementia at the time.

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The researchers evaluated social frailty using measures of social support, frequency of social interactions, sense of purpose, engagement in community or volunteer activities, and the individual’s perceived social roles and connectedness, according to a press release.

Based on this analysis, participants were classified as socially frail, pre-frail or non-frail.

The participants were followed for over 12 years, undergoing neuropsychological tests every two years to diagnose any new dementia cases. The researchers adjusted for other factors like physical frailty, psychological frailty and health history.

The study concluded that social frailty was associated with a higher risk of dementia, with socially frail individuals facing about a 47% increased risk compared to those in the non-frail group.

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In most socially frail people, the factors that were most strongly associated with this risk included low financial and family satisfaction, infrequent social contact and limited participation in social activity.

Study co-author and clinical psychologist Dr. Suraj Samtani, UNSW Sydney postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, emphasized the consequences of aging people lacking in social connections.

“In midlife, risk factors like hearing loss and metabolic syndromes like hypertension and diabetes are very important to prevent and manage,” he said in the press release. “But in late life, social isolation is the biggest risk factor for dementia.”

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In an interview with Fox News Digital, co-author and postdoctoral research fellow Dr. Annabel Matison noted that the study population was “generally healthy, well-educated and Caucasian.”

While the researchers would like to confirm these findings among a broader group, Matison commented that the strength of the association between socialization and cognitive decline is “noteworthy.”

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“We hope these findings raise awareness that poor social connections, resources and support are risk factors for dementia,” she said. “We encourage older adults to stay socially active with family, friends and neighbors, and to consider volunteering.”

Aging slowly and staying active

Another recent study by researchers at Cornell University found that social relationships can actually slow cellular aging.

Lead study author Anthony Ong, psychology professor and director of the Human Health Labs in the College of Human Ecology in New York, shared with Fox News Digital how the “depth and consistency” of social connection across a lifetime “matters profoundly.”

“Strong social ties appear to work in the background over many years, building a more resilient body by reducing the chronic, low-grade inflammation that is a key driver of accelerated aging,” he said.

In a previous interview with Fox News Digital, longevity experts David Cravit and Larry Wolf, the Canada-based authors of “The SuperAging Workbook,” shared several aspects of “super-aging,” including attachments to others.

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“I’m lucky enough to have been married to the same wonderful lady for almost 60 years,” Wolf said. “Cultivating contact with people you love, with people you like, and expanding your social network, are all very critical.”

The experts noted that mental and physical exercise are also crucial for keeping the brain young and sharp.

The ‘loneliness epidemic’

Multiple studies have shown that loneliness can be hazardous to humans’ health. In fact, a previous Harvard study found that being lonely is as detrimental as smoking 15 cigarettes per day.

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U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released an updated notice on the loneliness epidemic in September, reporting a growing decrease in social connection, especially among young people.

Psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen, founder of Amen Clinics in California, also commented on the grave impact that loneliness may have on human health.

“The number of friends people have has dropped 40% since 1990,” he said in a previous interview with Fox News Digital. “Why? We’re more connected online, but we’re more disconnected in person.”

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“Loneliness increases stress hormones, making you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression, and it’s just bad for you,” he went on. 

“When you’re face-to-face with actual people, your brain has to work so much harder, which ultimately is working out your brain.”

The shingles vaccine could slow the progress of dementia, according to a new study from Stanford.

These findings follow previous research that found older adults who received the vaccine were 20% less likely to develop dementia over the next seven years compared to those who didn’t get the shot.

“For the first time, we now have evidence that likely shows a cause-and-effect relationship between shingles vaccination and dementia prevention and treatment,” Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer, assistant professor of medicine and senior author of the new study, told Fox News Digital.

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A team of scientists used public health data in Wales, where, for several years, eligibility for the shingles vaccine (Zostavax) was based strictly on birth date. 

People born just before the cutoff automatically qualified, while people born just after did not.

This created two large groups of older adults who were nearly identical in age, health profile and background, only differing by who received the vaccine. This allowed researchers to compare dementia rates in a way that avoided some of the biases seen in observational studies.

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After the initial analysis from April, researchers dug deeper into the records and found that the vaccine’s benefits extended from the earliest signs of cognitive decline all the way to the last stages of dementia.

Over the course of nine years, people who received the vaccine were less likely to be diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.

Additionally, those who received the vaccine after a dementia diagnosis were significantly less likely to die from dementia in the next nine years, suggesting that the vaccine could slow the progress of the disease.

Nearly half of the Welsh seniors who had dementia at the start of the vaccination program ended up dying from dementia in the follow-up, compared to only 30% of those who received the vaccine.

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“There is a growing body of research showing that viruses that preferentially target your nervous system and hibernate in your nervous system for much of your life may be implicated in the development of dementia,” said Geldsetzer.

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That includes the chickenpox virus, which stays in the body for life. In older age, it can reactivate and cause shingles, and sometimes it can trigger inflammation in or around the brain, according to Mayo Clinic.

Preventing viral flare-ups could also reduce inflammation, which has been linked to dementia risk, experts say.

The critical limitation of this research, according to the team, is that the health behaviors of those who get vaccinated are different than those who do not.

“We have very little, if any, information on these behaviors in electronic health records or medical claims data,” Geldsetzer noted.

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For instance, the researchers don’t know about the patients’ dietary behaviors or physical activity levels.

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“If the shingles vaccine really prevents or delays dementia — and, with this new study, also appears to have benefits for those who already have dementia — then this would be a hugely important finding for clinical medicine, population health and research into the causes of dementia,” Geldsetzer emphasized.

Fox News Digital reached out to shingles vaccine manufacturers for comment.