A new study has shown that snoring, waking up during the night and other factors that build towards poor overall sleep quality could raise your risk of stroke.
The researchers on this study also found a direct correlation between sleep problems and stroke risk, the more issues an individual has, the higher their risk of stroke.
Study author, Christine McCarthy of the University of Galway, says: “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.”
This study analysed data from more than 4,500 individuals participating in INTERSTROKE, which is a large international case-control study of stroke patients.
Close to 1,800 study participants had an ischaemic stroke, whilst 439 had an intracerebral haemorrhage stroke.
Researchers on this study divided participants by matching them by age and sex to control participants who had no history of stroke.
Both groups answered questions about their sleep quality and behaviour, before the groups were cross compared.
The study results showed that individuals who slept less that five hours a night on average were three times more likely to have a stroke than those getting seven hours if sleep, which is the recommended minimum amount of sleep for adults.
However, too much sleep was also found to lead to an increased risk of stroke.
The study found that those sleeping more than nine hours a night on average were twice as likely to have a stroke than those averaging seven hours sleep hours.
The study results remained the same even after adjustments were made to eliminate any other stroke risk factors, such as smoking, high level of alcohol intake and lack of physical activity.
The study also showed that sleep apnea, which is a condition where individuals stop breathing multiple times per hour, was associated with a stroke risk of up to three times more likely.
Snoring or snorting also showed to be a risk factor of stroke, with those who snored showed to be 91 per cent more likely to have a stroke. Those who snorted were close to three times as likely to have a stroke than those who do not.
According to the study, napping is also a risk factor. Those who averaged a nap of more than an hour were 88 per cent more likely to have a stroke than those who did not.
Planned naps of less than hour were not associated with an increased stroke risk.
