Napping

[Guest guest]

From the Balanced Health Group

 

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Older people who have significant trouble

staying awake

during the day have more than four times the normal risk of having a

stroke,

U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

 

They also found a higher risk of heart attacks and other

cardiovascular

problems in seniors who regularly nod off during the day without

planning

to.

 

" Even when we controlled for things like hypertension, diabetes,

physical

activity, obesity and socioeconomic status, we found that people who

had

significant daytime dozing were much more likely to end up with

stroke, "

said Bernadette Boden-Albala of Columbia University in New York.

 

Her study of 2,153 adults with an average age of 73 found the risk

of stroke

was 2.6 times greater for those classified as doing " some dozing "

during the

day compared to those with " no dozing. " Those in the " significant

dozing "

group had a 4.5 times greater risk.

 

The study, presented at an American Stroke Association conference in

New

Orleans, is one of the first to look at the relationship between

unplanned

napping and " vascular events " such as stroke.

 

Other studies have found that people with sleep apnea who briefly

stop

breathing throughout the night are at high risk of stroke. This can

cause

daytime sleepiness.

 

Boden-Albala's study involved mostly Hispanic men and women over 40

living

in the same community in New York City. None had suffered a stroke.

 

The researchers asked people to rate how often they dozed in specific

situations, such as watching TV, sitting quietly after a lunch

without

alcohol and stopping briefly in traffic while driving. Some 44

percent

reported no dozing, 47 percent had some dozing and 9 percent reported

significant dozing.

 

After 2 1/2 years, they checked to see how many had strokes or other

vascular problems, such as a heart attack. They detected 40 strokes

and 127

other vascular events.

 

UNCERTAIN CAUSE

 

They found those who had the most trouble staying awake had the

highest

stroke risk, but the biggest surprise was in the moderate dozing

group.

 

" We found that group was also significantly associated with about a

2.5-foldincreased risk of stroke and about a 60 percent increased

risk

of having any

kind of vascular event, " Boden-Albala said in a telephone interview.

 

She said it is not clear what is causing the daytime sleepiness or

if there

is a link with sleep apnea.

 

" Whether it is sleep deprivation or sleep apnea, physiological

changes are

occurring that may be related to this increased risk. I think we may

need to

investigate that further, " she said.

 

A separate study at the conference found moderate aerobic fitness

helped

protect people from stroke, even if they had other risk factors such

as

heart disease or diabetes.

 

The study, which involved more than 60,000 people, is the first to

single

out the benefits of aerobic fitness on stroke prevention.

 

" We found that a low-to-moderate amount of aerobic fitness for men

and women

across the whole adult age spectrum would be enough to substantially

reduce

stroke risk, " said Steven Hooker of the University of South Carolina.

 

About 780,000 U.S. adults suffer a stroke each year, and about

150,000 of

those will die.

 

(Editing by Maggie Fox and David Wiessler)

 

 

--

Roni

<> Just because something isn't seen

doesn't mean it isn't there there. <>

 

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