Diet drinks cause higher risk of STROKES, doctor reveals
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Stroke, characterised by sudden numbness and confusion, is one of the conditions most dreaded by Britons. It involves damage to the brain tissue caused by either a blood clot or a burst vessel. Some people will recover from an incident with the help of therapy, while others will either succumb to the condition or suffer severe disability. One study has suggested that sleeping for long hours during the day could increase the risk of stroke.
Emergency departments across Britain recently warned that they are seeing an abnormally high number of patients suffering stroke for the time of the year.
Even more worrying is the fact that the prevalence of stroke is expected to grow further in coming years.
One study found that, contrary to popular belief, napping for long hours may actually do more harm than good for one’s health.
The analysis, conducted in China in 2019, suggested that sleeping for longer hours during the day may be more damaging for one’s health than sleeping more during the night.
READ MORE: Stroke: The signs in the eyes that could foreshadow an acute incident
Lead author of the study Xiaomin Zhang, of Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, and his team investigated the effects of napping in relation to stroke.
He said: “These results highlight the importance of moderate napping and sleeping duration and maintaining good sleep quality, especially in middle-aged adults and older adults.”
For the study, researchers evaluated stroke incidence in more than 30,000 adults, with an average age of 61.7 years of age.
Information about the participant’s napping patterns was collected at the beginning of the study, before monitoring the incidence of stroke.
The team observed that among the participants, those who slept more than nine hours per night were at higher risk of stroke, compared to those who slept seven to eight hours.
Based on the evidence provided, the researchers concluded that napping for an hour and a half during the day was associated with a greater risk for stroke.
They concluded that poor sleep quality was associated with a 29 percent overall risk of stroke, with a 28 percent higher risk of ischaemic stroke and a 56 percent higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
What’s more, the risk of stroke was higher when participants reported sleeping nine hours or longer and taking naps of 90 minutes or longer during the day, compared to those who took longer naps during the day and slept less at night.
Zhang added: “More research is needed to understand how taking long naps and sleeping longer hours at night may be tied to an increased risk of stroke.
“But, previous studies have shown that long nappers and sleepers had favourable changes in their cholesterol levels and increased waist circumferences, both of which are risk factors for stroke.
“In addition, long napping and sleep may suggest an overall inactive lifestyle, which is also related to increased risk of stroke.”
The findings stand in contrast to a number of other studies that advocate the protective benefits of sleeping against stroke.
One study led by the University Hospital of Lausanne suggested in 2019 that napping once or twice a week was linked to a sharply reduced risk of stroke.
It did however highlighted that napping more than twice a week was tied with poorer health.
Previous studies have also suggested that too much sleep can raise the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.
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