Reader response: Sleep duration, midday napping, and sleep quality and incident stroke: The Dongfeng-Tongji cohort

I read the article by Zhou et al. with interest.¹ The study data indicate that sleep and stroke have a relationship that can be plotted on a J-shaped or U-shaped curve where <6 hours or >9 hours of sleep can be considered a risk factor for stroke. Table 1 summarizes the data in a great way. However, on comparing the groups in table 1, it can be concluded that (a) Current Smoking, (b) Regular Exercise, (c) Family History of Stroke, and (d) Hypertension also can be plotted as J- or U-shaped (or inverted J or inverted U) curves when plotted against number of hours of sleep. Based on published or unpublished data, do the authors think that the risk factors of stroke also reduce the ability to feel fresh after 6-9 hour of sleep, leading to the need to sleep more than 9 hours? If true, at least a few risk factors that lead to increased sleep also increase the risk of stroke.

Disclosure

The authors report no relevant disclosures. Contact journal@neurology.org for full disclosures

Reference

1. Zhou L, Yu K, Yang L, et al. Sleep duration, midday napping, and sleep quality and incident stroke: The Dongfeng-Tongji cohort. Neurology 2019 Epub Dec 11.