Insomnia is linked to a 26% higher risk of stroke, according to an umbrella review led by the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) and the Medical University of Vienna. The paper, titled "Insomnia as a risk factor for brain, mental and general health consequences: an umbrella systematic review", was published in Sleep Medicine Reviews in September 2026 (DOI 10.1016/j.smrv.2026.102372), and the EAN publicised the findings on 27 September. Lead author Luca Vignatelli and colleagues combined existing systematic reviews with three new reviews of their own, covering stroke, hospital admission and injuries at work, after searching the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases up to August 2025. The underlying studies included more than 1.3 million participants. For stroke, the team found nine eligible studies and pooled six of them, giving a hazard ratio of 1.26 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.53). People with insomnia also had 28% higher odds of hospital admission, based on three pooled studies (odds ratio 1.28, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.43).
The limits of the evidence
The authors say the findings show that insomnia and stroke occur together more often than expected, without showing that one leads to the other. The researchers note that studies defined insomnia in different ways, and few accounted for sleeping tablet use or people's heart and metabolic health at the outset, both of which could affect the result. The review also reported links between insomnia and depression, and a less consistent link with dementia, where evidence was stronger for Alzheimer's disease and mixed for vascular dementia. It did not test whether treating insomnia lowers any of these risks. The publisher's record for the paper lists three pharmaceutical companies, Idorsia, Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Takeda, as funders, while News-Medical reports EAN funding.
What this means for you
The review measured insomnia as a condition. It did not examine any food supplement, so it gives no basis for claiming that a product improves sleep or lowers stroke risk. The authors argue that insomnia deserves clinical attention as a warning sign for brain and mental health, and co-author Stefan Seidel of MedUni Vienna said sleep should feature in discussions of brain health at every stage of life. Readers reviewing their wider health spending can browse Perqen's full product catalogue.
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Sources
- Insomnia linked to higher risk of stroke - Medical Xpress
- Insomnia Linked to Significantly Higher Risk of Stroke - Neuroscience News
- Study links insomnia to higher stroke and hospitalization risks - News-Medical
- Insomnia as risk factor for brain, mental and general health consequences: an umbrella systematic review - Sleep Medicine Reviews