How Older Adults May Be Doubling Their Risk of Dementia

Research from Brigham and Women's Hospital published in Aging investigated the linkage between sleep disturbances and deficiencies among older adults and risk of dementia and death, reports the Harvard Gazette . The authors used nationally representative data collected from older adults enrolled in the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a longitudinal analysis of Medicare beneficiaries 65 and older. They learned that dementia risk doubled among participants who reported getting less than five hours of sleep a night compared to those who reported seven to eight hours of sleep. Routinely taking half an hour or longer to fall asleep was associated with a 45 percent higher risk for incident dementia. Routine problems in maintaining alertness, routinely napping, noting poor sleep quality, and sleeping five or fewer hours a night was also affiliated with increased risk of death. "This prospective study reveals that sleep deficiency at baseline, when the average age of participants was 76 years old, was associated with double the risk of incident dementia and all-cause mortality over the next four to five years," said Brigham and Women's Hospital's Charles Czeisler. "These data add to the evidence that sleep is important for brain health and highlight the need for further research on the efficacy of improving sleep and treating sleep disorders on the risk of Alzheimer's disease and mortality."