STUDY: People who sleep for more than 8 hours regularly have higher risk of stroke

MANILA, Philippines – Planning on oversleeping this coming weekend? THINK AGAIN.

A new study revealed that regularly sleeping for more than eight hours may indicate a serious health risk. People who have a habit of sleeping for more than eight hours on a regular basis have a higher risk of stroke compared to those who sleep between six and eight hours. A person’s sleep duration affects the risk of fatal and nonfatal stroke.

The study involving 9,692 participants aged 42–81 years from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer–Norfolk cohort was published in the journal Neurology.

In conducting the study, the researchers followed the lifestyle, including the sleeping patterns of the participants for almost nine and a half years. Within the span of study, the researchers recorded both the amount of sleep the subjects typically got each night, as well as whether they had a stroke.

After nine and a half years, it was found out that 346 cases of stroke occurred. And among those stroke cases, it was discovered that most of them has persistently long sleep or a substantial increase in sleep duration over time. After  adjustment for all covariates and accounting other variables that could contribute to risk of stroke, it was found out that people who slept the most had a 46 percent higher than average risk of stroke.

According to the researchers, it maybe because prolonged sleep means increased body inflammation, which can eventually lead to cardiovascular problems. Moreover, the researcher also clarified that it is okay to sleep for more than eight hours, but not okay if this habit becomes very regular.