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Lead author of the study, Dr Rebecca Robbins of Brigham’s Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, said in a telephone interview that “sleep and health are really inextricably linked” and that the sleep systems of the humans peak in their 30s and 40s, but then begin to decline.
Strategies for improving sleep, she said, include avoiding napping during the day so that sleep is lumpy at night; reserve beds for sleeping only, as opposed to other activities like reading or watching TV; and expose yourself to natural light during the day.
Limiting or avoiding caffeine, the “world’s most consumed drug,” also helps, Robbins said, because each dose gives a person five to six hours of energy. People with sleep issues, she said, might want to replace caffeinated drinks with other drinks they like to consume, like seltzer water.
Robbins and his team used data collected from older adults participating in the National Health and Aging Trends Study, which focuses on Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older. Survey data from participants has been collected annually since 2011.
According to the Brigham, 2,610 participants responded to questionnaires about sleep in 2013 and 2014, and researchers looked at responses on sleep disorders and impairments, including responses on alertness, frequency of naps, time time it took people to fall asleep, sleep quality, sleep duration, and snoring. .
They also collected information on patient outcomes such as dementia and death from any cause for up to five years after the investigation, the statement said.
Overall, according to the release, the research team found a strong relationship between sleep disturbances and deficiency and dementia over time.
Regularly taking half an hour or more to fall asleep was associated with a 45% higher chance of dementia, the release said.
And regularly having difficulty staying alert, taking frequent naps, reporting poor sleep quality and getting five hours or less of sleep a night was also associated with an increased risk of death, the statement said.
“This prospective study reveals that lack of sleep at baseline, when the average age of participants was 76, was associated with double the risk of incident dementia and all-cause mortality over the next four to five years,” said Dr. Charles Czeisler, head of Brigham’s division of sleep disorders and circadian disorders, said in the statement.
Czeisler said that “the data adds to the evidence that sleep is important for brain health and underscores the need for further research on the effectiveness of improving sleep and treating sleep disorders on disease risk. Alzheimer’s and mortality.
In addition, the research team calls for further analysis of the links between sleep and dementia and death.
“Our study shows that very short sleep durations and poor quality sleep in older people increase the risk of developing dementia and premature death,” said study author Dr Stuart Quan, who also works in Brigham’s sleep disorders division. “There should be more emphasis on getting healthy sleep in the elderly.”
Travis Andersen can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @TAGlobe.
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