High blood pressure is often called the silent killer because it typically presents without symptoms, making it difficult to detect and treat early.
But there is evidence that nighttime headaches could signal a dangerous form of high blood pressure that conventional daytime checks often fail to detect.
These nocturnal hypertension headaches may indicate a reverse-dipper pattern, where blood pressure rises during sleep rather than falling as it should, medical experts have warned.
Research from the University of Oxford in 2022 revealed that almost half of hospitalised patients experience this reverse-dipper pattern.
Many patients hospitalised with high blood pressure experience the reverse-dipper pattern
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Because their blood pressure is lowest during daytime hours when medical checks typically occur, these individuals face an increased risk of missed diagnosis.
This overlooked condition poses particular dangers as patients remain unaware of their elevated nighttime blood pressure levels.
The reverse-dipper phenomenon presents a diagnostic challenge that conventional blood pressure monitoring often misses.
According to the University of Oxford study, these patients' blood pressure readings are "lowest during the daytime, when they are most likely to have their blood pressure checked by a doctor".
This timing mismatch means dangerous hypertension patterns go undetected in routine medical examinations. While typical patients see their blood pressure decrease at night, reverse dippers experience the opposite effect.
The implications are significant, as nearly 50 per cent of hospitalised patients demonstrate this pattern. Standard daytime appointments fail to capture the elevated nighttime readings that characterise this condition.
Dr Edward Kaye, a sleep medicine expert at University Hospitals, identified nocturnal hypertension headaches as a specific warning sign earlier this year. "This less common type of nighttime headache is caused by high blood pressure," University Hospitals explains.
The health system advises: "If you are frequently waking in the night with a headache, Dr Kaye recommends talking with your primary care provider about tracking your blood pressure."
Dr Kaye noted that headaches can reveal much about underlying health conditions.
He observed: "This can worsen the problem; the more stressed you become, the more likely you are to experience headache pain and sleep disruption."
High blood pressure remains a silent threat that can trigger serious health crises without warning.
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High blood pressure remains a silent threat
GETTYDr A Adnan Aslam and Dr Roy Normam emphasised this danger in their article this year, while the Northwest Houston Heart Centre warned: "Hypertension or high blood pressure is a serious health problem that can lead to life-threatening heart attack, kidney, or stroke, without you even knowing there's anything wrong."
The centre explained that elevated blood pressure increases the force with which blood pumps through arteries.
"Unfortunately, having high blood pressure doesn't usually cause any symptoms, so without a regular blood pressure check, you won't likely know there's a problem until you suffer a serious health crisis," the health body warned.
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