2023-06-12 11:41:00
Various factors play a role in the likelihood of having a stroke over the course of a lifetime. Diet, exercise and obesity are just a few examples. Our nocturnal recovery has long since become the focus of research in this regard. Now, a new study points to the dramatic impact of poor sleep on stroke risk.
A study from Ireland that was also recently published showed that sleep disorders can increase the risk of stroke (FITBOOK reported). The current study from the USA not only supports this result, but also adds other disturbing findings. Apparently, the risk of stroke can increase by up to 50 percent, depending on the number of insomnia symptoms a person has. Apparently, people under the age of 50 are particularly at risk.
course of the study
To investigate the connection between sleep disorders and the risk of stroke, the scientists from Virginia Commonwealth University (USA) used data from the long-term study “Health and Retirement Study“ approach. Overall, the researchers used health information from 31,126 people collected between 2002 and 2020. The mean age of the subjects who had not yet had a stroke at the start of the study was 61 years and the mean follow-up of their health history was nine years. 2101 of the people examined suffered a stroke during the study period.2
Using a questionnaire, the scientists determined the type and frequency of sleep problems and how many different symptoms occurred. The study participants filled these out regularly over the course of the study period. Details of the following complaints were requested:3
- problems falling asleep
- Frequent waking up at night
- Trouble going back to sleep following waking up
- Waking up too early in the morning
- Not feeling well rested in the morning
Respondents might choose between the answer options “most of the time”, “sometimes” and “rarely or never”. They also ranked their symptoms on a scale of 0 to 8, with higher numbers indicating worse symptoms. The researchers then used different statistical modeling and analysis methods to relate the recorded sleep disorders to strokes suffered by test subjects.
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The more symptoms of a sleep disorder, the higher the risk of stroke
In order to rule out other influences on the risk of stroke, the scientists adjusted their analysis data for factors such as alcohol consumption, smoking and level of physical activity. What remained was the finding that subjects who had one to four symptoms of a sleep disorder had a 16 percent increased risk of stroke compared to people with healthy sleep. Of the 19,149 people who indicated one to four symptoms in the survey, 1,300 suffered a stroke during the study period. In contrast, of the 6,282 people without symptoms, 365 suffered a stroke.
A dramatic increase in stroke risk was seen in people who had more than four symptoms of insomnia. People with five to eight symptoms had a 51 percent increased risk of stroke compared to those with a good night’s sleep. Of the 5,695 people with five to eight symptoms, 436 suffered a stroke.
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People under the age of 50 are particularly at risk
However, the research also provided another notable finding – namely that younger people with sleep disorders appear to be more at risk than older ones. Here’s how the association between insomnia symptoms and stroke was stronger in participants under 50 years of age:
- People under 50 with five to eight symptoms were almost four times as likely to have a stroke as those without symptoms
- People aged 50 and older with the same number of symptoms were twice as likely to have a stroke as people without symptoms
According to the researchers, one explanation for the different results in those under and over 50 years old might be that strokes become more common with older age due to other previous illnesses than sleep disorders – e.g. B. due to diabetes or high blood pressure. In contrast, in younger, non-pre-existing people, sleep disorders appear to be a risk factor with potentially dramatic effects. “This striking difference suggests that treating insomnia symptoms at a younger age might be an effective stroke prevention strategy,” said study author Wendemi Sawadogo of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “Future research should examine reducing the risk of stroke by treating sleep problems.”
classification of the study
Poor sleep is regarding much more than tiresome exhaustion or trouble concentrating the next day. If left untreated, sleep disorders can not only immediately reduce the quality of life, but also have serious health consequences in the long term. The current study suggests that if you want to protect yourself from a stroke, you should definitely have sleep disorders treated. However, one limitation in the study design should not go unmentioned: the determination of insomnia symptoms by means of surveys. This means that the study participants reported their possible symptoms subjectively and from memory. A method that is error-prone and provides data that is difficult to verify.
Sources
- 1. Mc Carthy, C.E., Yusuf, S. Judge, C. et al. (2023). Sleep Patterns and the Risk of Acute Stroke: Results from the INTERSTROKE International Case-Control Study. Neurology.
- 2. Sawadogo, W., Adera, T., Alattar, M. et al. (2023). Association Between Insomnia Symptoms and Trajectory With the Risk of Stroke in the Health and Retirement Study. Neurology.
- 3. American Academy of Neurology. Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep linked to increased risk of stroke. EurekAlert! (accessed on June 12, 2023)
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