New Delhi: Sleep is vital not just for the body but for the mind as well. It solidifies memories, improves concentration and also mitigates the risk of chronic and acute health problems like diabetes and heart diseases. While there are some people who struggle to get the much-needed eight hours of sleep for proper functioning. But according to scientists, there is a particular symptom that occurs during your sleep that could be indicative of dementia risk – it is having frequent nightmares, bad dreams. This can get worse with age and may hint at a heightened risk of dementia.
How are dreams indicative of dementia risk?
Experts at the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Human Brain Health carried out the research and found that distressing dreams can be associated with cognitive decline. This is because there are not many risk factors associated with dementia and age is the only known cause. Apart from that, researchers are still not certain of the causes of this condition which has no cure. Experts said that more work is required in the area as bad dreams are yet to established as one of the key drivers for dementia. This could also pave way for coming up with new strategies to curb the same. For this, experts studied data from three studies in the US on health and ageing.
The study included 600 people aged 35 to 64 years and they were followed for an average nine years. Another study included 2600 people aged 79 years and older, and they were followed for five years. Participants were dementia free at the start of the study, and they were asked to fill questionnaires about the frequency at which they had bad dreams. Then experts compared the results while measuring cognitive decline via ability to recall words or count backwards. It was found that people who had bad dreams more often were more likely to be diagnosed with dementia later in life.
It was found that middle-aged participants who had nightmares every week were four times more likely to suffer from cognitive decline in the coming decade. This was more evident in men than in women. Older men who had nightmares every week were five times more likely to develop the condition. But in women, the risk increased by only 41%.
The study was published in The Lancet journal eClinicalMedicine.
Experts at the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Human Brain Health carried out the research and found that distressing dreams can be associated with cognitive decline. This is because there are not many risk factors associated with dementia and age is the only known cause. Health News Health News: Latest News from Health Care, Mental Health, Weight Loss, Disease, Nutrition, Healthcare
