Insomnia is a potential risk factor for an intracranial aneurysm and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, a type of stroke, according to a study published Nov. 3 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers studied established risk factors and assessed the link between aneurysms and coffee consumption, sleep, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), blood glucose levels, type 2 diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, chronic inflammation and kidney function.
Researchers used data from various studies to determine genetic associations to lifestyle and cardiometabolic risk factors, and a meta-analysis conducted by the International Stroke Genetics Consortium to identify nearly 6,300 cases of intracranial aneurysm and nearly 4,200 cases of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Study limitations included not having enough information to adequately analyze some of the risk factors and participants were only of European ancestry, meaning the findings may not be generalizable to people from other racial and ethnic groups.
Key findings:
- There was a 24 percent increased risk for intracranial aneurysm and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage in individuals with genetic predispositions to insomnia.
- The risk for intracranial aneurysm was about three times higher for smokers vs. non-smokers.
- The risk for intracranial aneurysm was almost three times higher for each 10 mm Hg increase in diastolic blood pressure.
- There was not an increased risk of intracranial aneurysm and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage in individuals with high triglyceride levels and high BMI.