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Short sleep duration increases risk of stroke for adults
According to Health24, a study of 5 666 middle-age to older adults who are of normal weight and who had no history of stroke, who were observed for up to three years by researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, found that habitually sleeping less than six hours a night significantly increases the risk of stroke symptoms.
The study found no association between short sleep periods and stroke symptoms among overweight and obese participants.
Lead author Megan Ruiter, PhD, said that short sleep duration is thought to be a precursor to other traditional stroke risk factors, and "once these traditional stroke risk factors are present, then perhaps they become stronger risk factors than sleep duration alone." Further research, Ruiter said, may help increasing physician and public awareness of the impact of sleep as a risk factor for stroke symptoms, especially among persons who appear to have few or no traditional risk factors for stroke, Health24 reports.
Read the full article on www.health24.com.
