Alzheimer’s and dementia: afternoon naps may be associated with an increased risk of contracting these conditions
Older people who sleep excessively in the afternoon may be associated with an increased risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders. This is what emerges from a study published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia from the Alzheimer’s Associationconducted by scientists fromUniversity of California in San Francisco, of the Harvard Medical School he was born in Brigham and Women’s Hospitalwho identified an association between more frequent and lasting daytime sleeps and a higher risk of dementia.
The team, led by Yue Lenghas overturned the view that the afternoon nap it would be a way to compensate for poor night sleep. “We have discovered – Leng reports – that daytime nap is important but is independent of night rest”.
Alzheimer’s and dementia: those who sleep more than 68 minutes in the afternoon have a higher risk
The research team used watch-like devices to measure the sleep sessions of 1,401 seniors, who had been followed for up to 14 years since Rush Memory and Aging Project at Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center of Chicago. The participants, whose average age was 81, wore wrist sensors for several days, and underwent annual neuropsychological tests to assess cognition.
At the start of the study, the authors report, 75.7% of subjects appeared cognitively healthy, 19.5% showed mild cognitive impairment, and 4.1% were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. After comparing the data from a distance, the scientists found that people who remained cognitively healthy were associated with an increase in daily naps of about 11 minutes on average. On the other hand, among those who showed signs of mild cognitive impairment, naps increased by 24 minutes, while following the diagnosis of Alzheimer patients tended to sleep up to 68 minutes longer.
According to the survey, participants who slept more than an hour during the day had a 40% greater risk of developing a neurodegenerative diseasecompared to those who rested less.
Alzherimer and dementia: “Daytime rest and the risk of experiencing neurodegenerative diseases could drive each other’s changes in a bidirectional way”
“It is plausible to assume that the correlation between excessive daytime naps and increased risk of Alzheimer – he adds When Hufrom the Harvard Medical School – may reflect the effect of the disease in the preclinical phases. Our work shows that daytime rest and the risk of experiencing neurodegenerative disease could drive each other’s changes bi-directionally. “
“We do not yet have sufficient elements to establish a causal relationship – concludes Leng – but it seems that daytime napping could be a sign of premature cognitive aging. For future studies it would be interesting to explore whether altering these routines can influence age-related cognitive decline. “.