Scientists say they’ve stumbled upon something big with regards to sleep, and it shows that sleep has a much bigger impact on our lives than simply allowing us to feel rested and energized the next day. The study found that those that struggled with insomnia or generally had poor sleep habits were far more likely to get a stroke or some form of cardiovascular disease.

Even though scientists have always known that sleep has a huge impact on our bodies in many ways, it surprised scientists just how big of an effect it has on our cardiovascular health. This particular study was published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. It examined 15 studies involving 160,867 participants.

The study found that the risk factors were between 1.27 and 1.11 for heart disease and stroke in those who had difficulty getting to sleep, had non-restorative sleep, or had trouble maintaining sleep, as compared to those who didn’t struggle with sleep problems at all.

“Sleep is important for biological recovery and takes around a third of our lifetime, but in modern society more and more people complain of insomnia,” said first author Qiao He, a Master’s degree student at China Medical University, Shenyang, China. “For example, it is reported that approximately one-third of the general population in Germany has suffered from insomnia symptoms.”

“Researchers have found associations between insomnia and poor health outcomes,” continued Miss He. “But the links between insomnia and heart disease or stroke have been inconsistent.”