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If you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, wake up too early most days or have other signs of insomnia, you may be at higher risk for stroke, a new study finds.
The more insomnia symptoms you have, the higher the risk, especially if you’re younger than age 50, according to the study, which followed more than 31,000 people with no history of stroke for nine years. The risk of stroke is generally higher in older adults with more health problems, the study says.
After controlling for other factors that contribute to stroke risk, the researchers found that people with five to eight symptoms of insomnia had a 51% higher risk of stroke compared to people without insomnia, according to in a study published Wednesday in the journal Neurology.
In comparison, people with one to four symptoms had a 16% higher risk of stroke compared to people with no symptoms of insomnia, the study found.
Symptoms may include insomnia hard to sleep; waking up at night; Wake up early in the morning; not feeling well rested; daytime sleepiness; anxiety, depression and irritability; worry about sleep, increasing errors or accidents; and difficulty concentrating, remembering or paying attentionaccording to Mayo Clinic.
“There are many therapies that can help people improve the quality of their sleep, so determining which sleep problems lead to an increased risk of stroke may allow for earlier treatments or behavioral therapies for people who have difficulty sleeping and possibly reduce their risk of stroke later in life,” said the lead study author and epidemiologist Wendemi Sawadogo, a researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, said in a statement.
The studying published in April who analyzed data on more than 4,500 people found similar results for other types of sleep disorders.
The results showed that people who slept less than five hours a night, which can occur with insomnia, were three times more likely to have a stroke than those who regularly slept seven hours – the recommended minimum for adults, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Too much sleep has also been a problem. Getting more than nine hours of sleep on average is associated with a twofold increase in stroke risk.
The results held true even after adjustments to eliminate other issues that can lead to stroke, including depression, alcohol abuse, smoking and lack of physical activity, according to the April study.
Having sleep apnea — a condition in which people stop breathing several times each hour – is associated with a threefold increase in stroke risk, according to an April study release.
Snoring or snoring, which can both be signs of untreated sleep apnea, are also risk factors. People who snore are 91% more likely to have a stroke, while those who snore are almost three times more likely to have a stroke than those who don’t.
Napping also increases the chances of stroke, the statement said. People who averaged more than an hour of sleep were 88% less likely to have a stroke than those who didn’t. However, napping for less than an hour was not associated with an increased stroke risk, the study said.
Sleep disorders and stroke
Why are sleep issues connected to stroke? Phyllis Zee, director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, told CNN in an earlier interview that short, fragmented sleep and sleep apnea can disrupt the body’s ability to regulate metabolism, blood pressure and inflammation — all risk factors for stroke.
“Poor sleep can impair the natural drop in blood pressure that occurs during the night sleep and contribute to hypertension – an important risk factor for stroke and cardiovascular disease,” Zee said via email.
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Insomnia and other sleep disorders affect the circulatory system, experts say.
“In other population-based research, similar relationships have been reported between poor sleep health and disorders such as diabetes, heart disease and dementia,” he said.
Practicing good sleep hygieneeating a healthy diet and regular exercise are all key ways to reduce the negative effects of sleep disorders and reduce the risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease, said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver, in the previous interview.
“What I always tell people is, you know, getting about seven hours a night of uninterrupted sleep is associated with the least amount of cardiovascular disease,” he said.
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