Lack of sleep ‘elevate stroke risk’

Prolonged sleep deprivation enlarge the risk of suffering from a stroke or heart disease, a latest study suggests. Research undertaken by academics at Warwick Medical School and published in the European Heart Journal establish disrupted sleep patterns could have serious extended term effects on health. The University of Warwick team connected a lack of sleep to strokes, heart attacks and cardiovascular disorders which often result in early death. Professor Francesco Cappuccio said: "If you sleep less than six hours per night and have troubled sleep you stand a 48% better chance of rising or dying from heart disease and a 15% greater chance of rising or dying from a stroke.

"The trend for late nights and early on mornings is actually a ticking time bomb for our health so you need to act now to reduce your risk of increasing these life-threatening conditions." Professor Cappuccio and co-author Dr Michelle Miller followed up proof spanning seven to 25 years from more than 470,000 participants across eight countries, including Japan, the US, Sweden and the UK. Dr Miller said chronic short sleep make hormones and chemicals in the body, which increase the risk of developing heart disease and strokes, plus other situation such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes and obesity.

Professor Cappuccio added: "There is an prospect in today's society to fit more into our lives. The entire work/life balance struggle is causing too many of us to deal in precious sleeping time to make sure we complete all the jobs we consider are expected of us. "But in doing so, we are considerably increasing the risk of suffering a stroke or developing cardiovascular disease resulting in, for example, heart attacks." He also warned of the implication of sleeping too much, more than nine hours at a stretch, which may be an pointer of illness, such as cardiovascular disease.