Too much is just as bad as too little, raising risk of stroke and chronic diseases

The researchers said differences were likely to be due to hormonal, behavioural or cardiovascular differences between men and women.

Dr Gyorgy Purebl, director of Semmelweis University’s Institute of Behavioural Sciences and a co-author of the study, said: “As a society, we are experiencing a sleep epidemic. Even though awareness has grown, our behaviour hasn’t changed much in the last decade.”

The authors of the study said sleep deprivation was a growing global health concern, and that millions of people were regularly sleeping too little because of work demands, exposure to digital screens and stress.

Shift workers and those with irregular schedules were particularly affected, it said.

Chronic sleep loss is also linked to a range of health issues, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and a worsening immune system.

In a second study, the Hungarian researchers looked at the impact of sleep duration on the risk of stroke and subsequent death.

They found that people sleeping for five to six hours a night had a 29 per cent higher risk of stroke than those sleeping for seven to eight hours and that they were 12 per cent more likely to die because of the stroke.

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Those sleeping more than eight hours had a 46 per cent higher risk of stroke and were 45 per cent more likely to die from it.

Dr Balazs Gyorffy, head of the department of bioinformatics at Semmelweis University, and senior author of both studies, said: “Stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability worldwide.

“Our findings make it clear that sleep duration should be considered in stroke prevention strategies to reduce the burden on healthcare systems and improve population health.”

The Telegraph, London

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