Strokes and sleep: the scary connection

It’s tough to think ahead to when you’re 90, but here’s something you’ll want to know: You could have a stroke before you get there unless you get some sleep.

Researchers discovered this unexpectedly. The study that revealed this fact wasn’t even designed to prove a cause-and-effect link between poor sleep and stroke risk.

What they were doing was examining the brains of deceased people whose average age was 90. They had all undergone at least one full week of sleep quality assessment before their deaths.

The researchers found that 29 percent of them had suffered a stroke without even knowing it. And 61 percent had moderate-to-severe damage to blood vessels in the brain.

When they looked into it further, those who had the worst quality of sleep were 27 percent more likely to have hardening of the brain arteries.

Why you need better sleep

The interruption of sleep cycles is linked to lower oxygenation of the brain.

It’s more proof that the brain needs much more oxygen that we ever thought. Blood is what carries oxygen to the brain, so the key to preventing stroke death due to poor sleep is to improve circulation. And that means doing the right type of exercise that delivers that oxygen.

High intensity exertion delivers as much as 18 times the oxygen to the brain than does light or low-intensity exercise. ^[1]

Why? Because almost all of the oxygen in your blood is attached to hemoglobin molecules. But while you’re resting, hemoglobin will deliver only about a quarter of that to your tissues. Otherwise, it stays in the blood. You need to exercise with intensity to get hemoglobin to release oxygen into your brain as it circulates.

So, firstly, anything you do for exercise, just reach for a little bit more. Swimming, biking, walking, doing leg raises… whatever you do, push yourself to a higher level of exertion, and get more oxygen to your brain.

You’ll sleep better … and you may never have to worry about scary stroke risk ever again.

[1] Adapted from: von Ardenne, M. Oxygen Multistep Therapy. Thieme. 1990. p. 144