Too little sleep linked to stroke risk

Regularly sleeping fewer than six hours a night may affect cardiovascular system, study says.

June 11, 2012 at 2:46PM

Middle-aged and older people who regularly sleep less than six hours a night may be raising their risk of stroke, a new study suggests.

As much as a fourfold increased risk was seen among normal-weight people who didn't suffer from sleep apnea but got fewer than six hours of sleep each night, the researchers found. Both obesity and sleep apnea are known risk factors for stroke.

"Sleep is important," said lead researcher Megan Ruiter, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Medicine. "There is evidence that insufficient sleep ... increases all sorts of abnormal responses in the body."

Lack of sleep increases inflammation and causes increases in blood pressure and the release of certain hormones, all creating a greater stress response that can increase the risk for stroke, Ruiter said.

The results of the study were scheduled to be presented Monday at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Boston. The data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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Colleen Stoxen oversees hiring, intern programs, newsroom finances, news production and union relations. She has been with the Minnesota Star Tribune since 1987, after working as a copy editor and reporter at newspapers in California, Indiana and North Dakota.

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