A new study finds middle-aged and older people who are sleep deprived could be significantly raising their risk of having a stroke.

That's according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Medicine.

The study looked at 5,600 subjects who were part of a larger study on stroke risk.

Over three years, researchers found that normal-weight people who got less than six hours of sleep at night had an increased risk.

The study didn't find any significant link between strokes and sleep deprivation among overweight people.

Researchers say lack of sleep increases inflammation, which leads to an increase in blood pressure and the release of certain hormones in the brain.

Those factors combined lead to a greater risk of suffering a stroke.