- Researchers investigated the link between sleep problems and stroke risk.
- They found that sleep problems increased stroke incidence by as much as five times.
- Further studies are needed to confirm the results.
Quality sleep is
Studies show that obstructive sleep apnea is associated with stroke. Whether other sleep orders are linked to stroke remains
Knowing more about how sleep problems may affect stroke risk could aid the development of preventative strategies.
Recently, researchers investigated the link between sleep problems and the incidence of
They found that the more sleep problems individuals had, the more likely they were to experience stroke. The study paper appears in the journal Neurology.
Dr. Adi Iyer, a neurosurgeon and neurointerventional surgeon at Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, not involved in the study, told Medical News Today that, “[w]hile there may be independent physiological changes that occur with poor sleep predisposing to stroke, it is likely that overall sleep represents an epiphenomenon of known stroke risk factors such as obesity, older age, alcohol use, etc.”
“Sleep may be a modifiable risk factor for stroke and clinicians should assess patients’ sleep quality and duration,” he added.
For the study, the researchers analyzed healthcare data from 1,799 participants who had experienced an ischemic stroke — the most common kind of stroke, in which a blood clot blocks an artery leading to the brain.
They also analyzed data from 439 people who experienced an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) — bleeding in brain tissue — and 4,496 controls who were matched according to age and sex. Participants were an average of 62 years old.
Finally, the researchers asked…
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