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If you have sleep apnea, you may be at an increased risk for stroke.

Dr. Ashis Taval, a stroke neurologist at Allegheny General Hospital, had a patient in this exact situation.

"His wife described that he was having a lot of problems snoring at night," he said. "His cardiologist very astutely tied all of these aspects together, that one, he'd had a stroke, that he had sleep disordered breathing."

In a study, more than 5,000 people with no history of sleep apnea or stroke were followed for nearly a decade. Every few years, they had blood pressure measurements, sleep studies and questionnaires.

Strokes were more common among people with high blood pressure and advancing age and obstructive sleep apnea.

"It's very powerful data," Dr. Taval said. "As the degree of the severity of your sleep apnea got worse, your risk of subsequently having a stroke went higher and higher."

It confirms what other studies have shown, but in a stronger way.

To read more, visit the KDKA website.