Up to fifty percent of stroke patients suffer less noticeable comorbidities after the acute phase of a stroke and often the rest of their life. It concerns sleep disordered breathing (SDB), post stroke depression (PSD), and dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. These comorbidities are seldom recognized, but are associated with a poorer outcome after stroke, reduced quality of life as well as an increased risk of new vascular events.~Little is known about the course of the comorbidities, the relationship between the mentioned diseases or which patients are more commonly affected.~The investigators will investigate the following hypotheses, and assess the results compared to the stroke aetiology:~Stroke patients with SDB have an impaired autonomic function~Stroke patients with SDB have an increased risk of PSD~Stroke patients with autonomic dysfunction have an increased risk of PSD~The investigators will examine stroke patients for signs of sleep disordered breathing, autonomic dysfunction and depression, both in the acute phase (days), in the chronic phase (months) and the very chronic state (years). Thereby the investigators can map the comorbidities course over time. At the same time the patients will be tested for peripheral small and large artery disease as well as MRI will be used to investigate sign of cerebral small vessel disease.~Based on power calculations 335 individuals will be enrolled in order to satisfy the project requirements.
The purpose of this study is to investigate sleep disordered breathing, autonomic dysfunction, and post stroke depression in acute and chronic stroke patients. Furthermore, to explore the interaction between these comorbidities, and their relation to stroke aetiology.