On the flip side, sleeping more than nine hours a night on average was associated with a twofold increase in stroke risk, according to a statement on the study. Results showed people who slept less than five hours a night on average were three times more likely to have a stroke than those who got seven hours of sleep - the recommended minimum for adults. Both groups answered questions about their sleep quality and behavior, and the two groups were compared. Participants in the study were then matched by age and sex to people who had no history of stroke. Another 439 people had an intracerebral hemorrhage in which arteries or veins in the brain rupture, causing bleeding into brain tissue. Nearly 1,800 participants in the study had an ischemic stroke, the most common kind, in which a blood clot blocks an artery leading to the brain. Irregular sleep may be harmful to your heart, study finds The study, published Wednesday in the journal Neurology, analyzed data from more than 4,500 people participating in INTERSTROKE, a large international case-control study of patients who have experienced a stroke. “In other population based research, similar relationships have been reported between poor sleep health and disorders such as diabetes, heart disease and dementia.” “Poor sleep can impair the natural blood pressure dipping that occurs during night time sleep and contribute to hypertension - an important risk factor for stroke and cardiovascular disease,” Zee said via email. Phyllis Zee, director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine at Northwestern’s medical school, who was not involved in the study.

One reason may be the impact of short, fragmented sleep and sleep disorders such as sleep apnea on the body’s ability to regulate metabolism, blood pressure and inflammation, which are all risk factors for stroke, said Dr. Letting go of any worries and meditating can help before bedtime, experts say.

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