Tuesday 22 June 2021
seven hours as optimum
Sleep deprivation increases risk of dementia in old age
Middle-aged people who sleep only six hours or less are at risk of developing dementia later. This is the result of a long-term study that looked at test subjects over several decades.
In one long-term study, researchers found that there appears to be an association between length of sleep and the risk of developing dementia in old age. According to a statement from the institute, Severin Sabia of the French Institute of Health and Medical Research in Paris (Inserm) said: “It is known that people with dementia experience sleep problems, but it is not clear what sleep duration is between Whether in old age or not of life affects the risk of dementia.” Researchers also knew that dementia such as Alzheimer’s developed over a period of several decades.
To test whether there is a link between sleep duration and dementia, the research team analyzed data from 7959 British adults. All of these data are from people who participated in the so-called Whitehall II study since the mid-1980s. The subjects, all British officers, were regularly interviewed and medically examined. They reported that they slept six times between 1985 and 1988, that is, between the ages of 35 and 55, and between the ages of 63 and 86 in 2015 and 2016. The researchers were able to estimate sleep duration at ages 50, 60 and 70.
In addition, so-called accelerometers were used in 4267 study participants between 2012 and 2013. These record the movements of the body. Subjects were asked to wear the device for nine consecutive days. The data obtained in this way should help to objectiveize the information on the questionnaire.
521 cases of dementia at the end of the study
A total of 521 participants had developed dementia by the end of the 2019 study period. The study found a 20 to 40 percent higher risk of dementia among people who slept less than or properly slept six hours a night over the age of 50 or 60. “Based on a very long follow-up period, we found that short-term sleep in mid-life, which was assessed 25 years before the mean age at onset of dementia, is associated with the risk of dementia in later life,” says Sabia. Summarizes In addition, the scientists found no significant association between eight hours or more of sleep and the risk of dementia.
Connection or sign of third disease?
When analyzing the data, other factors influencing the risk of dementia were also included, such as nicotine and alcohol intake, physical activity, body mass index and diet. Although the researchers were unable to establish a direct association between insufficient sleep and an increased risk of dementia with their research results, the unusually long observation time made it possible to rule out that sleep disorders are an early symptom of dementia. . Also, there is a possibility that both sleep disorders and dementia are the result of a third disease. Hence further investigation is planned.
Sabia concluded, “While we cannot confirm that too little sleep actually increases the risk of dementia, there are several reasons why a good night’s sleep may be good for brain health. These results reaffirm the importance of sleep hygiene to health.” result The long-term studies were published in the journal “Nature Communications.”
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