Apr 04, 2014 12:19 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

A new study has suggested people, especially young adults, who experience insomnia can be up to twice as likely to suffer a stroke.

According to HealthDay News, the large four-year study out of Taiwan found people with insomnia were 54 percent more likely to be hospitalized by stroke at the end of the study. When compared to those without insomnia, people aged 18-34 were eight times as likely to suffer a stroke.

"We pay a lot of attention to high blood pressure, to obesity, to issues related to cholesterol. Those are known risk factors," American Heart Association spokesman Dr. Demetrius Lopes, director of the Interventional Cerebrovascular Center at Rush University in Chicago, told HealthDay News. "But I think what is underrated is if you don't have a good sleep routine, how much it can harm you, especially at a young age."

Taken at random, the study researchers compared health records of 21,000 people with insomnia to those of 64,000 people without insomnia in Taiwan. While none of the patients had previous instances of sleep apnea or stroke, 583 insomniacs vs. 962 non-insomniacs were admitted to the hospital for a stroke by the end of the four-year period.

The study is published in the April edition of the journal Stroke.

"We feel strongly that individuals with chronic insomnia, particularly younger persons, see their physician to have stroke risk factors assessed and, when indicated, treated appropriately," study author Dr. Ya-Wen Hsu, an assistant professor at Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, said in a press release. "Our findings also highlight the clinical importance of screening for insomnia at younger ages. Treating insomnia is also very important, whether by medication or cognitive therapy."

Various health risks brought on by insomnia include systematic inflammation, impaired glucose tolerance, increased blood pressure or sympathetic hyperactivity. Still, the researchers were not able to pinpoint the link between insomnia and stroke. They also found that similar studies in other countries have found the same connection.

"Individuals should not simply accept insomnia as a benign, although difficult, condition that carries no major health risks," said Hsu. "They should seek medical evaluation of other possible risk factors that might contribute to stroke."

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