Snorers almost twice as likely to have a stroke, study finds

Dr Christine McCarthy said their results suggest sleep problems should be an area of focus for stroke prevention.

People who experience sleep problems are more likely to have a stroke, new research has found.

Problems including getting too much or too little sleep, taking long naps, snoring, snorting, and sleep apnoea are associated with an increased risk of stroke, a global study co-led by the University of Galway has found.

Findings include that people who slept for too many or too few hours were more likely to have a stroke than people who slept an average number of hours.

They also found snorers are almost twice as likely as non-snorers to have a stroke.

Lead author Dr Christine McCarthy said their results suggest sleep problems should be an area of focus for stroke prevention.

Dr McCarthy, Stroke and Geriatric Medicine Physician, PhD researcher with the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at University of Galway, said risks vary based on the number of symptoms a person has.

“Not only do our results suggest that individual sleep problems may increase a person’s risk of stroke but having more than five of these symptoms may lead to five times the risk of stroke compared to those who do not have any sleep problems,” she said.

The international study involved 4,496 people, including 2,238 people who had a stroke matched to 2,258 people who did not have a stroke. Participants’ average age was 62.

They were quizzed on sleep behaviours including hours of sleep, napping, snoring, snorting, breathing problems during sleep, and overall sleep quality.

The study found breathing problems during sleep, including snoring, snorting, and sleep apnoea were significantly associated with stroke.

Participants who reported sleep apnoea and snorting were nearly three times more likely to have a stroke, while people who snored were nearly twice more likely to have a stroke than those who did not.

People who slept for more than nine hours or people who slept less than five hours were more likely to have a stroke than people who slept an average number of hours.

Risk factors

The team reported extensive adjusting for other factors that could affect the risk of stroke, such as smoking, physical activity, depression, and alcohol consumption, did not change the results.

Co-lead on the international INTERSTROKE study Professor Martin O’ Donnell said one in four people over the age of 25 around the world will have a stroke.

Prof O’ Donnell, professor of Neurovascular Medicine at University of Galway and Consultant Stroke Physician at Galway University Hospitals, also called for more research on this area.

“We know from our INTERSTROKE study research that many strokes could be prevented, and this study has been designed to inform approaches to population-level prevention,” he said.

“We now need to factor in sleep problems as one of the associations with stroke, and the need for targeted research evaluating interventions design to prevent, and improve, sleep impairments.” 

The research was published in the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. 

Findings were released as part of the wider INTERSTROKE project and can be accessed on the University of Galway website from today.