Insufficient or poor-quality sleep during adolescence increases by up to 50 percent the risk of developing multiple sclerosis in later life, a study cited by UPI found.

"We found that if you sleep too little or have poor sleep in adolescence, the risk of developing multiple sclerosis later is up to 50 percent," said study leader Dr. Anna Karin Hedström, senior researcher in the Department of Clinical Neurology at the Institute Karolinska in Stockholm, Sweden.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disease that attacks the central nervous system.

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of America says that sleep disorders, including insomnia, too much sleep, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea, are more common in patients with the disease than in healthy patients.

Dr. Hedstrom's team's study involved 2,100 older adults with MS and 3,200 randomly selected healthy older adults aged 70 years and older.

The participants filled out surveys about their sleep quality between the ages of 15 and 19, and none of them had been diagnosed with MS, adds BTA.