[DON'T STOKE STROKE] Sleep problems up stroke risk
People who have sleep problems may be more likely to have a stroke, according to a recent study. Sleep problems included getting too much or too little sleep, taking long naps, having poor quality sleep, snoring, snorting and sleep apnea. In addition, those who had five or more of these symptoms had an even greater risk of stroke.
"Not only do our results suggest that individual sleep problems may increase a person's risk of stroke but having more than five of these symptoms may lead to five times the risk of stroke compared to those who do not have any sleep problems," said study author Christine Mc Carthy, MB, BCh, of the University of Galway in Ireland. "Our results suggest that sleep problems should be an area of focus for stroke prevention."
The study involved 4,496 people with an average age of 62; 2,243 who had a stroke were matched to 2,253 who did not have a stroke.
The researchers found that people who got less than five hours of sleep were three times more likely to have a stroke than those who got seven hours of sleep on average. People who got more than nine hours of sleep were more than two times as likely to have a stroke than those who got seven hours a night.
In addition, people who took naps longer than one hour were 88% more likely to have a stroke than those who did not.
Furthermore, those who snored were 91% more likely to have stroke than those who did not and people who snorted were nearly three times more likely to have a stroke than those who did not. People with sleep apnea were nearly three times more likely to have a stroke than those who did not.
Results were similar even after adjustment for other factors that could affect the risk of stroke such as smoking, physical activity, depression and alcohol consumption, the results remained similar.
"With these results, doctors could have earlier conversations with people who are having sleep problems," Mc Carthy said. "Interventions to improve sleep may also reduce the risk of stroke and should be the subject of future research."
Read the abstract of the study, published in Neurology, here
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