Stroke risk increased: The dangers of too much sleep revealed

Cambridge University warns that sleeping more than eight hours a day raises the risk of suffering a stroke.

17:49 27 February 2015

A recent study conducted by scientists at Cambridge University claims that people who sleep for more than eight hours per day are more likely to suffer a stroke. It added that older people who slept for longer than the recommended period have s 50per cent increase of developing the condition.

Professor Kay-Tee Khaw, senior author on the study, said: “We need to understand the reasons behind the link between sleep and stroke risk. What is happening in the body that causes this link?

“With further research, we may find that excessive sleep proves to be an early indicator of increased stroke risk, particularly among older people.”

However, researchers are yet to firmly establish the link between sleeping longer than eight hours and a suffering stroke.

“It’s apparent both from our own participants and the wealth of international data that there’s a link between sleeping longer than average and a greater risk of stroke,” said Yue Leng, a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge.

“What is far less clear, however, is the direction of this link, whether longer sleep is a symptom, an early marker or a cause of cardiovascular problems.”