(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Jul. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — According to a new study, women who sleep more than nine hours a day are three times more prone to strokes than those who sleep between seven and eight hours.
The medical research team at Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine led by Dr. Kim Min-yeong revealed such results today after carrying out a study that analyzed the correlation between sleep hours per day and illness in 17,601 participants.
The results were published recently in the online edition of the academic medical journal “BMJ Open.”
The research team divided three groups of people into those who got fewer than six hours of sleep every day, those who slept between seven and eight hours daily, and those who slept more than nine hours.
The number of stroke occurrences in each group were then compared.
Removing all other factors that may have led to differing results, the researchers found that the men and women who slept more than nine hours a day were twice as likely to be affected by a stroke than those who slept between seven and eight hours.
The occurrence of stokes was three times higher for women compared to men.
Researchers say that the higher rates can be attributed to hormones in women that affect their emotional status.
Due to the influence of ovarian hormones, women are unable to control stress levels properly which may result in sleeping disorders.
When deep sleep is not achieved, this can lead to a longer duration of sleep, which was found to be the cause of heightened risks of strokes.
Dr. Kim claimed the study was meaningful because it helped identify the link between sleep and strokes.
“More research on middle-aged and senior citizens and their sleep duration and quality should be carried out comprehensively,” Dr. Kim added.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
