Hypertension, Stroke Causes & Symptoms: Sleeping Too Much or Too Little Doubles Risk for Disease

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People with high blood pressure who sleep too little or too much at night might double the risk for stroke, according to a new research.

According to the study, people who sleep less than five hours and those who sleep more than eight hours have an 80 percent and 70 percent increased risk of stroke, respectively, CBS News has learned.

The lowest risk of having a stroke was found in people who enjoyed 7-8 hours of sleep at night.

The research made use of data collected from 200,000 residents of the U.S. with high blood pressure. Dr. Oluwaseun Akinseye of New York's Mount Sinai Hospital and colleagues gathered the information from the National Health Interview Survey.

"We were surprised, especially with the individuals reporting insufficient sleep, because most studies . . . have shown [only] a modest increase in the chances of suffering a stroke among those with short sleep duration," Dr. Akinseye, who is an internal medicine resident at the Icahn School of Medicine, told CBS.

"Our study showed much higher odds of a stroke, almost a twofold increase," Akinseye added.

The study is to be presented on Friday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hypertension in New York.

The preliminary results from the study only show a link between stroke risk and sleep duration among people with high blood pressure. No cause-and-effect relationship has been established as of the moment.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stroke is the leading cause of death in America. Approximately 800,000 individuals in the United States suffer from a stroke each year, and almost 130,000 Americans die of the disease annually. On average, one American dies from stroke every 4 minutes.

Stroke is a medical condition pertaining to the sudden loss of brain function due to an interruption in the supply of blood to the brain. It may be caused by a blocked artery or the bursting of a blood vessel.

Signs and symptoms of a possible stroke include: severe headache, numbness or paralysis in the face, leg or arm; trouble with speaking and understanding, trouble with walking due to dizziness or loss of coordination and blurred vision, according to Mayo Clinic.

Meanwhile, most people have high blood pressure due to many factors and underlying conditions including: kidney problems, obstructive sleep apnea, drug use, thyroid problems, congenital blood vessel defects and alcohol abuse.