Health
Kids with insufficient sleep could see spike in blood pressure, study finds
Poor sleep habits have a ripple effect on many aspects of kids’ health — and a new study has revealed that blood pressure is one of them.
A report published in the journal Pediatrics this week said that going to sleep earlier and sleeping for longer durations is linked to lower blood pressure in children.
Researchers analyzed 539 patients averaging 14.6 years old, who slept for an average of 9.1 hours per night.
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Children who went to sleep later were found to have worse blood pressure parameters during the day — while those who slept for longer periods had reduced blood pressure.
The results were consistent regardless of age, gender, body mass index and the day of the week.
A report published in the journal Pediatrics this week revealed that going to sleep earlier and sleeping for longer durations is linked to lower blood pressure in children. (iStock)
“The key takeaway is that essential hypertension in children is, like in adults, contributed by lifestyle,” Dr. Amy Kogon, the study’s lead author and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, told Fox News Digital.
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“As physicians, we typically counsel patients to improve diet and physical activity to improve blood pressure, but this study suggests that sleep may be an additional facet to consider.”
“This study suggests that sleep may be an additional [health] facet to consider.”
The researchers were surprised to find that longer sleep duration was associated with blunted “nocturnal dipping,” which is the expected drop in blood pressure that comes during sleep.
“It is considered abnormal if a patient does not exhibit nocturnal dipping on their ambulatory blood pressure study,” Kogon said.
Children who went to sleep later were found to have worse blood pressure parameters during the day, while those who slept for longer periods had reduced blood pressure, a new study found. (iStock)
“We expected that shorter sleep would be associated with blunted nocturnal dipping, and ultimately found that instead, longer sleep duration was associated with blunted nocturnal dipping.”
This was primarily seen in patients who reported excessive sleep duration, the researcher noted.
“It’s possible that those with excessive sleep duration are not sleeping well,” she said.
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“For instance, if they had sleep apnea or even if they were in bed but on their phone or watching TV all night, that might explain the blunted nocturnal dipping.”
The study did have some limitations, Kogon acknowledged.
Children between 6 and 12 years old should get 9-12 hours of sleep each night — while those between ages 13 and 18 need 8-10 hours, per the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. (iStock)
“It was a retrospective review of data — so these are associations,” she told Fox News Digital.
“Also, we captured sleep duration by self-reporting for only [a] 24-hour period of data and assumed that it is representative of the patient’s sleep duration in general.”
The researchers also did not gather data on sleep quality or sleep disorders.
Factors impacting children’s blood pressure
High blood pressure affects about one in every seven people between 12 and 19 years of age, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
As with adults, children with elevated blood pressure are at a higher risk of stroke and heart attack, experts say.
Sleep is just one of several risk factors that can impact this key health metric.
High blood pressure affects about one in every seven people between 12 and 19 years of age, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (iStock)
Other influencers include obesity, physical fitness, diet and environmental stress, according to the American Heart Association.
Children between 6 and 12 years old should get 9-12 hours of sleep each night, while those between 13 and 18 need 8-10 hours, per the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Studies have shown that most youth are falling short, with 6 out of 10 U.S. middle schoolers and 7 out of 10 high-school students saying they don’t get enough sleep on school nights.
How kids can improve their sleep
Michael Gradisar, head of sleep science at Sleep Cycle and a clinical psychologist based in Adelaide, Australia, said the biggest obstacle to kids’ sleep might not be what people think.
“The scientific evidence doesn’t show that screens are the main obstacle to young people getting a good night’s sleep,” he told Fox News Digital.
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“The obstacle is actually their body clock. Because their body clock is timed late, they tend to fall asleep late and wake up late. Scientists have known this for decades.”
To improve sleep quality, Gradisar recommended using morning bright light therapy tailored to the person’s own body clock timing.
Six out of 10 U.S. middle schoolers and 7 out of 10 high-school students say they don’t get enough sleep on school nights. (iStock)
Morning bright light therapy uses bright light to help reset the circadian rhythm and normalize sleep patterns.
“That has shown the best results, according to the clinical trials that have been performed — including those we’ve run here in Australia,” he said.
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Looking ahead, the researchers plan to determine whether a sleep promotion intervention will improve blood pressure, Kogon said.
“We plan to explore this further by obtaining sleep quality data and obtaining more long-term sleep measures in patients being evaluated for high blood pressure,” she added.
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The sudden death of Kyle Busch has drawn attention to a rare but devastating medical progression: when pneumonia escalates into fatal sepsis.
An ER doctor spoke with Fox News Digital about how sepsis can trigger a rapid health decline.
“Sepsis is actually not a specific disease or diagnosis, but rather the syndrome that occurs when the body has certain abnormal findings and a presumed infection,” said Dr. Kenneth J. Perry, a South Carolina-based emergency medicine physician.
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The markers of sepsis include elevated white blood cell counts, a high or low temperature, and elevated heart and respiratory rates, according to Perry. Because of this, a patient with pneumonia is often already technically septic by definition.
In the wake of Kyle Busch’s sudden passing, there is a focus on the rapid decline from pneumonia to fatal sepsis. (Getty; iStock)
While many people assume a worsening infection means bacteria are multiplying uncontrollably, it often has more to do with the body’s internal environment.
“It is often not the bacteria itself that is causing the specific decline,” Perry said. “In most cases, it is a cascade of inflammatory processes that are set in motion by the infection.”
When this inflammation spirals out of control, the body moves from having a manageable infection into severe sepsis. This is when otherwise healthy people can rapidly deteriorate.
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“The concerning thing that can happen with any individual … is that sepsis can then lead to low blood pressure, worsening vital signs and organ damage,” Perry said.
“As multiple organs fail, it becomes very difficult for the medical team to treat and can sometimes lead ultimately to death.”
“The medical evaluation provided to the Busch Family concluded that severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming associated complications,” the family shared in a statement. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
It is very unlikely to have pneumonia and not have any symptoms, according to Perry. Early signs can mimic a severe flu, including fevers, chills, a productive cough, and chest or back pain in cases where the lung is infected.
When sepsis begins to take hold, time becomes the most critical factor. “We have known for a number of years that early antibiotic therapy is beneficial in the treatment of sepsis,” Perry said.
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If you or a loved one are managing an infection at home, the doctor says the following red flags mean you should bypass the clinic and head straight to the emergency room.
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- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- A racing heart rate or fever that continues to worsen even after starting treatment
- Severe chest pain associated with a productive cough
The slide into sepsis is, in most cases, a cascade of inflammatory processes that are set in motion by the infection, the doctor said. (iStock)
While cases like Busch’s are tragic, Perry stressed that this shouldn’t cause widespread panic. Most patients with pneumonia do very well with standard oral antibiotics.
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The NASCAR star’s rapid decline underscores the importance of medical vigilance and “having a primary care physician with whom you have a good relationship,” according to the ER doctor.
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“Monitoring symptoms while having easy access to primary care is a very beneficial and appropriate plan for most patients,” he added.
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Popular glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) weight-loss drugs may help slow the spread of some cancers, according to new research to be presented at a major medical conference.
Research led by Cleveland Clinic found that the medications may reduce the spread of several obesity-related cancers, including lung, breast, colorectal and liver cancers.
The findings will be presented at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting next week in Chicago.
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According to a press release, the real-world retrospective study included 12,112 patients with the following types of obesity-related cancers, ranging from stage 1 to stage 3.
Popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs may help slow the spread of some cancers, according to new research to be presented at a major medical conference. (iStock)
- Breast adenocarcinoma
- Prostate adenocarcinoma
- Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
- Colorectal adenocarcinoma
- Hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer)
- Renal cell carcinoma
- Pancreatic adenocarcinoma
Half of the participants started a GLP-1 medication – semaglutide, tirzepatide, dulaglutide, liraglutide, lixisenatide or pramlintide – after their cancer diagnosis.
The other half began taking a DPP-4 inhibitor comparator “gliptins,” a different class of diabetes medications, the study noted.
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Compared to the patients taking gliptins, the GLP-1 users were found to have significantly lower progression to stage 4 disease for four types of cancers.
The biggest risk reduction was for non-small cell lung cancer (50%), followed by breast cancer (43%), colorectal cancer (31%) and liver cancer (38%).
Compared to the patients taking gliptins, the GLP-1 users were found to have significantly lower progression to stage 4 disease for four types of cancers. (iStock)
“Our study found that use of GLP-1 drugs, compared to DPP-4 inhibitors and other antidiabetic drugs, was associated with a meaningful reduction in cancer progression across four solid tumor types,” said lead study author Mark David Orland, MD, of the Taussig Cancer Institute at Cleveland Clinic, in the release. “It provides early evidence that future studies are worth pursuing.”
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Three other types of cancer – prostate, pancreatic and kidney – also had lower rates of spread among those taking GLP-1s, but those differences were “not statistically significant,” the researchers noted.
“Our study found that use of GLP-1 drugs … was associated with a meaningful reduction in cancer progression across four solid tumor types.”
Tumors with higher levels of GLP-1 receptors — proteins that help cells respond to GLP-1 hormones and drugs — were also linked to better survival outcomes, according to the study findings.
Overall, patients whose tumors had more of these receptors were about one-third less likely to die during the study period.
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The incidence of adverse side effects was similar between GLP-1 and gliptin groups.
The findings suggest that GLP-1 pathways may directly influence how some cancers grow or spread, though researchers say more studies are needed to understand the mechanism behind this effect.
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The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, had some limitations, according to the researchers. As it was retrospective and observational in design – as opposed to a randomized clinical trial – it couldn’t prove that GLP-1 drugs directly prevent cancer progression.
The findings suggest that GLP-1 pathways may directly influence how some cancers grow or spread, though researchers say more studies are needed to understand the mechanism behind this effect. (iStock)
Other factors, such as participants’ health conditions, weight loss and metabolic improvements, may have influenced the results, researchers noted.
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For some specific cancer types, there may not have been enough patients represented to detect statistically significant differences.
Further randomized clinical trials are needed to evaluate these preliminary findings and to determine the specific ways in which GLP-1s control cancer progression.
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