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Too Much Sleep May Increase Stroke Risk in Menopausal Women
August 7, 2008
Regularly getting 9 hours or more of sleep per night appears to increase the risk of stroke in post menopausal women, according to a study published in the American Heart Association Journal “Stroke” in July 2008.
The study, which involved 93,000 women ages 50-79 years old from 40 locations around the United States, ran from 1994 to 2005. Although only 5% of study participants reported getting 9 hours or more of sleep nightly, those 5% had a 60-70% higher risk of stroke compared to women getting only 7 hours of sleep per night (the most common duration).
The risk of stroke increased by 14% in women who routinely got less than 6 hours of sleep per night. The optimal amount of sleep for most people is between 7 and 8 hours per night. Some people, however, can get by with as little as 6 hours of sleep while other need as many as 9. According to this study, too much sleep may be even worse than too little sleep as far as stroke risk is concerned.
Topics: Health News