For most of us, getting too much sleep is rare, but you should know that doing so can raise your risk of stroke by 85%.
How excess sleep can hurt
New research published in Neurology has linked excessive sleep and daytime naps to a greater stroke risk.
A team from China looked at data from 31,750 people who had an average age of 62 with no history of stroke or other serious health issues. Among the participants:
- 24% reported sleeping for a minimum of 9 hours a night
- 8% frequently took naps that were more than 90 minutes
They followed the group for an average of 6 years and during that time, 1,557 people had strokes. The participants who slept for at least 9 hours nightly had a 23% greater stroke risk compared to all of those who only slept less than 9 hours nightly.
People who napped for more than 90 minutes daily AND slept for more than 9 hours at night had an 85% higher risk of stroke compared to those who only napped and slept in moderation.
Sleep quality also factored into assessing a stroke risk. Participants who reported poor sleep quality had a 29% greater risk of stroke than those who said their sleep quality was good.
The researchers adjusted for factors such as diabetes, smoking and hypertension.
Caveats
This study doesn’t prove causality. It was only observational.
In addition, the results did not factor in things like sleep apnea or other sleep disorders.
Finally, the study was only done on older, healthy Chinese adults. The results may be different if done on younger participants, non-Chinese adults or those who were not healthy.
As the lead researcher, Dr. Xiaomin Zhang, pointed out, “In addition, long napping and sleeping may suggest an overall inactive lifestyle, which is also related to increased risk of stroke.”
