Sleep too little or too much? You may have an increased risk of stroke, study finds

According to a recent international study, people who have sleep problems, such as getting too much or too little shut-eye, or even snoring, may be at a higher risk of having a stroke.

peer-reviewed studies published on wednesday neurologyMedical Journal of the American Academy of Neurology, which included nearly 4,500 participants globally, and examined the link between poor sleep and stroke.

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The study found that people who consistently got less than five hours of sleep were three times more likely to have a stroke than those who got seven hours. And people who slept more than nine hours were twice as likely to have a stroke than those who got seven hours.

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The researchers defined sleep problems as sleeping too much (more than nine hours) or too little (less than five hours), taking long naps, poor quality sleep, snoring, snoozing and sleep apnea.

Lead author Christine said, “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 is associated with a five times higher risk of stroke than those without Maybe, who have no problem sleeping.” McCarthy, Department of Medicine at the National University of Ireland said in a media release.

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“Our results suggest that sleep problems should be an area of ​​focus for stroke prevention.”

Study participants were asked about their sleep behavior, including the number of hours they slept, quality of sleep, napping, snoring, sniffling and breathing problems.

The authors noted that a limitation of the study was that people self-reported their symptoms of sleep problems, “so the information may not have been accurate.”

Sleeping for more than an hour or an “unplanned nap” was also associated with an increased risk of stroke, the study said. It was found that participants who napped for more than an hour were 88 percent more likely to have a stroke than those who did not.

Meanwhile, the study noted that naps of less than an hour or “planned” naps were not associated with increased odds of having a stroke.

Dr. Mark Boulos, a spokesman for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and a sleep neurologist at Sunnybrook Hospital in Ontario, said the study neurology is in line with the current literature.

“It’s well recognized that sleep disturbance has always been a risk factor (for stroke), but especially sleep apnea,” he said, noting that sleep apnea occurs when you stop breathing throughout the night. Let’s turn it off.

What is weaker, however, is the association of other sleep disorders with stroke, he said.

“But there is still some evidence linking long and short sleep duration to an increased risk of stroke,” Boulos said.

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For example, a study published in 2019 neurology which analyzed the sleep patterns of people in China over six years, found that regularly sleeping more than nine hours at a time and taking long naps in the afternoon could increase a person’s risk of stroke.

Boolos called Wednesday’s study “unique,” as previous studies have Stroke strongly associated with sleep apnea, and not with other sleep disturbances. However, he added that since the study is observational, future work is needed on this topic.

The researchers also noted that the strong evidence for an association between obstructive sleep apnea and stroke, and ties to other disorders or impairments in sleep, “are less certain.”

In the press release, McCarthy said the study results suggest that doctors “could have had earlier conversations with people who have sleep problems. Sleep-improvement interventions may also reduce the risk of stroke and suggest future research.” Must be the subject.

A 2017 Statistics Canada Health Report Recommend seven to nine hours of sleep each night for adults 18 to 64 and seven to eight hours for seniors 65 and older.

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The report also says that nearly a third of Canadians are not getting enough sleep (less than seven hours each night).

Boulos stressed that poor sleep quality is not only linked to stroke, but also Tied to high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attacks and depression,

“You’re going to spend about a third of your life sleeping,” he explained. “So if your sleep quality is not good, you are affecting your vasculature for about a third of your life.”

When people sleep, their blood pressure also drops relative to when they’re awake, notes Boulos., Sleep disorders, such as insomnia or sleep apnea, can disrupt this rhythm, which can put pressure on blood vessels and increase blood pressure.

“And fluctuations in blood levels are harmful to the brain,” Boulos said.

There is another “hypothesis” regarding sleep, which is that a good night’s sleep can literally clear the brain.

Boulos was part of a previous 2015 study This demonstrated for the first time in humans that poor sleep quality was associated with increased areas in the brain thought to function in toxin removal.

“It’s almost like a toilet effect, when you sleep it flushes harmful toxins down the toilet. And if the toilet is blocked you can’t flush those toxins out,” he said.

Their study found that…