That cosy bed can kill you

A new study reveals that sleeping in a very comfortable bed, which makes you sleep longer, triples your risk of suffering a stroke.

And if your bedroom is too uncomfortable, making it difficult for you to sleep, you have an increased risk of suffering a brain haemorrhage.

The study, done by Dr Oluwaseun Akinseye of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, among others, noted that in both situations, the risk is particularly high for people living with high blood pressure  (HBP).

These findings follow those of a similar study by the University of Cambridge earlier this year, which found that people who sleep in very comfortable bedrooms had a 46 per cent higher-than-average risk of sufferinga stroke

The researchers analysed more than 204,000 adults living with HBP using almost 10 years’ data from the National Health Interview survey. Apart from analysing the data, the researchers followed nearly 10,000 people between the ages of 42 and 81 for nine-and-a-half years. 

They used the data to establish how the comfort of one’s bedroom influenced their  susceptibility to stroke.

They found that those who slept in a very comfortable bedroom had a 14 per cent risk of suffering a stroke, which was almost three times the five per cent risk people in moderately comfortable bedrooms have.

COMFORT METER

Likewise, those who got very little sleep were also more likely suffer a stroke, with an 11 per cent chance of suffering brain haemorrhage.

However, the study did not indicate why those with uncomfortable bedrooms  risked  suffering brain haemorrhage.

Presenting the findings and an American Society of Hypertension meeting in New York last week,  Dr Akinseye said finding the reasons could be good grounds for further investigations.

Noting that 346 participants had suffered either a non-fatal or fatal stroke over the study period, Dr Akinseye said the “comfort meter” in the bedroom is not the only factor that raises one’s risk of suffering a stroke, since issues such as your body’s response to sex, lighting, and bedsheet linen texture come into play.

Since the quality of bedroom comfort cannot be measured quantitatively, the researchers defined  an overly comfortable bedroom as one that induces you to sleep more than nine or 10 hours, while an uncomfortable bedroom restricts you to only five hours of sleep.

Previous studies have reported that an adult needs between six and nine hours of sleep to relax and feel well rested, although oversleeping, as happens when one has a very comfortable bed,  has been associated with numerous health problems such as diabetes and obesity.

Similarly, sleeping in an uncomfortable bed have also been linked with malfunctioning of the body’s metabolism as well as an increase  in the levels of the stress hormone cortisol, all of which can lead to HBP, and thus the likelihood of a stroke. Interestingly, too much sleep can have similar results, but scientists are yet to establish why.

The study will undoubtedly change the way people view their beds and bedrooms.