Doctors are being encouraged to check if patients who involuntarily nod off during the day are more ...
Doctors are being encouraged to check if patients who involuntarily nod off during the day are more susceptible to having a stroke.
Research from Columbia University in New York found that for those who had a habit of nodding off, the risk of suffering a stroke was two to four times higher than for those who never fell asleep during the day.
The study asked 2,000 people how often they fell asleep in different situations, including while watching television, talking to someone and stopping briefly in traffic when driving.
In addition to an increased stroke risk, researchers also found the risk of a heart attack or death from vascular disease was 1.6% higher for moderate dozers and 2.6% higher for significant dozers.
Another study has revealed that listening to music can aid recovery from a stroke. University of Helsinki researchers, who published their findings in the UK, compared patients who listened to music for a couple of hours with those who listened only to audio books or nothing at all.
The report said: "Little is known about the effects of an enriched sound environment on recovery from neural damage. The potential role of music in neurological rehabilitation has not been systematically investigated."
Patients who listened to music showed the highest rate of overall improvement, in terms of memory, attention skills and frame of mind. The report stated that during the first weeks and months of recovery after a stroke, the brain undergoes dramatic changes further enhanced by stimulation from the environment.
Teppo Sarkamo, lead researcher at the university, said music could be valuable for patients not yet ready for other forms of rehabilitation, and the aim of the study was to offer music therapy before the changes in the brain occurred.
After three months, verbal memory improved by 60% in the music group, compared with 18% in the audio book group and 29% in the non-listening category.
