Middle-aged adults who sleep six hours or less face an increased risk of dementia, compared to those who regularly follow in seven hours of closure, according to a large-scale study that lasts 25 years.
The results suggested that persistent short sleep among adults aged 50, 60, and 70 years was associated with a 30% higher risk of dementia, which was maintained after taking into account factors such as mental health, sociodemography. and cardiometabolic status.
“Short-term persistent sleep has been associated with an increased risk of dementia compared to those with normal persistent sleep,” the study authors wrote.
DENIMENT PATIENTS MORE RISK OF CORONAVIRUS INFECTION, HOSPITALIZATION, STUDY FINDINGS
A team of French researchers published the findings in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday, the results of a Whitehall II study involving nearly 8,000 British participants. Dementia is a broad term for neurodegenerative disease that affects memory, attention and communication, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimates that 5 million adults aged 65 and over lived with dementia in 2014. The agency projects that figure it will more than double to nearly 14 million by 2060.
The risks for dementia increase significantly with age, especially among those aged 65 and over, says the CDC, although other risk factors include family history and race / ethnicity.
To reach their conclusions, the researchers performed repeated measurements during sleep of 7,959 participants over 25 years, collecting self-reported data as well as information from wristwatch accelerometers, and 521 participants continued to develops the disease.
Evidence has suggested that sleep supports cognitive performance and cleanses the brain of toxic beta-amyloid protein plaques in the brain, so sleep deprivation can lead to “a harmful effect,” the study authors noted. Amyloid plaques can disrupt nerve cells in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease, it is said to account for the vast majority of cases of dementia.
The accumulation of amyloid plaque contributes to poor sleep in older adults through its direct impact on the regions of the sleep-regulating brain, the authors wrote.
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However, difficulty sleeping is sometimes an early sign of dementia. Dr. Séverine Sabia, the corresponding author of the study at the University of Paris, stops establishing a causal link between sleep duration and the risk of dementia.
“These findings suggest that sleep duration could be a risk factor for dementia in later life,” Sabia said, The Guardian reported. “I can’t tell you that sleep deprivation is a cause of dementia, but it can contribute to its development.”
The appropriate author did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.