High blood pressure and sleeping badly? Or for too long? You could be at risk of a stroke
About two million people in the UK suffer from high blood pressure
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Your support makes all the difference.People with high blood pressure who sleep for less than five hours, or more than eight hours, a night have a significantly higher stroke risk than those who get seven or eight hours sleep, a new study says.
The research, which looked at over 200,000 subjects, concluded that less than five hours sleep a night increases your risk of getting a stroke by 83 per cent, whilst sleeping for more than 8 hours increases the risk by 74 per cent.
Dr Oluwaseun Akinseye and his team from Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City, were due to present their findings at the American Society of Hyptension’s annual meeting this week, according to CBS News.
"We were surprised, especially with the individuals reporting insufficient sleep, because most studies . . . have shown [only] a modest increase in the chances of suffering a stroke among those with short sleep duration," said Dr Akinseye, according to CBS News.
"Our study showed much higher odds of a stroke, almost a twofold increase," he added.
The author has not given a concrete explanation for the findings, but has hinted that it could be because those who have little sleep have more of the hormone cortisol in their bodies, whilst long sleep can lead to an increase in the amount of inflammatory chemicals present.
About two million people in the UK suffer from high blood pressure.
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