Health, Stroke | New study: Sleep problems double the risk of stroke

– Good sleep is one of the most important things we can do for our health, says doctor and neuroscientist Ole Peter Healy to Nettavisen.

He refers to a new American study in which 31,000 people were followed over a period of nine years. The results showed that those with five to eight different types of sleep problems had a 51% risk of stroke. Some of the symptoms are snoring, apnea, and sleep apnea (See full list at bottom of this issue).

– What they did was look at different sleep challenges. Some sleep little, some sleep for a long time, and others have problems waking up in the middle of the night, or sometimes stop breathing, Healy says.

Of all the forms they looked at, very short sleep, less than five hours a night, was the one that increased the risk of stroke the most, he says.

The study was published in the journal Neurology Earlier this year.

– Triple the risk

In a Swedish study, where 4,500 patients were followed, similar results were reached, the Swedes wrote Aftonbladet.

Sleeping less than five hours per night over a long period of time triples the risk of infection, says Annika Rosengren, professor of medicine at the University of Gothenburg, to the Swedish newspaper.

She herself contributed to the study that was published in the same journal.

This study is also based on different types of sleep problems, and was adjusted for other risk factors such as smoking.

The Institute of Public Health cites sleep problems as one of the country’s most underappreciated public health problems. We went to sleep therapy to see what could be done to improve sleep.

Sleep Apnea Risk factor

Another important risk factor is Sleep ApneaDuring the night, you can stop breathing for a few seconds.

“We know it’s a risk factor for stroke,” says Rosengren.

It continues:

– If you have more than five different symptoms, your risk of stroke increases five times.

“But we also see that if you have just one risk factor, for example, if you sleep less than 5 hours, the risk increases three times,” she said.

It affects many Norwegians

Stroke is one of the most common causes of death among Norwegians. About 12,000 Norwegians suffer from a stroke annually, she said health care.

Both young and old can have a stroke.

– The number has been fairly stable for many years, but we believe that this number will increase in the future because we are aging as a population, says doctor Ole Peter Healy.

It is believed that many of these cases could have been prevented.

Studies like this are important. He says: Because it shows the relationship between lifestyle factors that we can influence, and disease prevention.

The Institute of Public Health cites sleep problems as one of the country’s most underappreciated public health problems. We went to sleep therapy to see what could be done to improve sleep.

Get some sleep

Sleep problems are one of the most common health problems among Norwegians. The Institute of Public Health has cited it as one of the country’s most underappreciated and widespread public health problems.

– The vast majority of Norwegian adults and young people sleep little. Less than our biological need, Healy says.

The most important reason is that we do not prioritize sleep enough.

according to Directorate of Health About one in three adults suffer from sleep problems every week, while up to 15 percent of the Norwegian population suffers from chronic sleep problems, insomnia.

– Taken together, this shows that sleep is extremely important for our health. In this study specifically, there was a link between poor sleep and the risk of stroke, Healy points out.

The Institute of Public Health cites sleep problems as one of the country’s most underappreciated public health problems. We went to sleep therapy to see what could be done to improve sleep.