Medication Taken By 1 in 10 May Increase Dementia Risk 79%

Almost one-in-ten regularly take this medication that is repeatedly linked to increased dementia risk.

Almost one-in-ten regularly take this medication that is repeatedly linked to increased dementia risk.

Another study has found a link between taking sleeping medication and increased dementia risk.

Taking sleep medication was linked to a 79 percent increased risk of dementia among white people.

The link was not seen in Black people, however, and Dr Yue Leng, the study’s first author, is not sure of the reason:

“Differences may be attributed to socio-economic status.

Black participants who have access to sleep medications might be a select group with high socio-economic status and, thus, greater cognitive reserve, making them less susceptible to dementia.

It’s also possible that some sleep medications were associated with a higher risk of dementia than others.”

The study included around 3,000 older people, average age 74, almost half of whom were Black.

The results showed that white people were three times as likely to take sleep medication as Black people.

White people were twice as likely to use benzodiazepines, like Halcion, Dalmane and Restoril and 7 times as likely to use “Z-drugs,” such as Ambien.

It may be that the types of drugs that white people take puts them at higher risk of dementia.

Alternatives to medication

For sleep problems, other options than medication should be considered, said Dr Leng:

“The first step is to determine what kind of sleep issues patients are dealing with.

A sleep test may be required if sleep apnea is a possibility.

If insomnia is diagnosed, cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i) is the first-line treatment.

If medication is to be used, melatonin might be a safer option, but we need more evidence to understand its long-term impact on health.”

The most common signs of sleep apnea, which affects 30 percent of older people, include:

  • Loud snoring,
  • gasping for air during sleep,
  • breathing stopping for brief periods during the night,
  • morning headache,
  • and daytime sleepiness and irritability.

Sleep and dementia

Poor sleep is one of the common symptoms of dementia, so it may be that taking more sleep medications is a result rather than a cause of dementia.

However, other studies have controlled for this factor and still found a link between anti-anxiety and sleep medication and early death.

These find a dose-response effect: the more of the drugs people took, the higher their risk of death.

Many other studies have found a link between dementia and sleep.

People who sleep for too little or too long are at a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

Indeed, people who sleep more than 9 hours a night have double the risk of developing dementia, one study found.

However, those who sleep for between 5.5 and 7.5 hours per night do not see declines in their cognitive health, even when suffering the early effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

Those sleeping longer also have lower brain volumes.

Also, getting less REM sleep — the phase in which we dream — is linked to dementia.

→ Read on: Dementia: 9 Warning Signs Everyone Should Know

The study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (Leng et al., 2023).

This Surprising Evening Routine Unlocks 30 Extra Minutes Of Sleep (M)

Learn the counterintuitive way to extend your sleep by 30 minutes.

Learn the counterintuitive way to extend your sleep by 30 minutes.

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Discover The Trick Nurses Use To Get More Restful Sleep (M)

This technique helps healthcare professionals sleep soundly at night despite the stress they are under.

This technique helps healthcare professionals sleep soundly at night despite the stress they are under.

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Beat Insomnia: 11 Unusual Sleep Tips Backed By Psychological Research (P)

Avoiding caffeine makes little difference to sleep — but here are 11 things that do actually work.

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Struggling to get a good night's sleep?

With 30 percent of adults reporting short-term sleep issues, you’re not alone.

In surveys of what would improve people’s lives, a good night's sleep comes near the top of the list.

Poor sleep results in worse cognitive performance, including degraded memory, attention, performance and alertness.

So, here are 11 proven tips that will transform your sleep and leave you feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

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The Sleep Schedule That Increases Depression Risk

Getting seven or eight hours is not enough, study finds.

Getting seven or eight hours is not enough, study finds.

Sleeping irregular hours increases the risk of depression, even if the total amount of sleep is sufficient, research finds.People who sleep and wake at different times are just as likely to suffer depression as those who do not get enough sleep overall.The findings highlight how important it is to maintain regular hours of sleep — on top of getting enough total sleep.Irregular sleep schedules may cause mental health problems by disrupting circadian rhythms, the researchers suggest.Circadian rhythms are the natural sleep-wake cycles of the body.Sleep may be more restorative when it coincides with melatonin production and lower core body temperature, which are two circadian rhythms which help the body prepare for sleep.For the study, researchers tracked over 2,100 young doctors as they battled through their first year of training after completing medical school.Trainee doctors are well-known to experience highly irregular work schedules, along with reduced time for sleep.Psychologists gathered information about their sleep and wake patterns through wearable devices.Ms Yu Fang, the study’s first author, said:
“The advanced wearable technology allows us to study the behavioral and physiological factors of mental health, including sleep, at a much larger scale and more accurately than before, opening up an exciting field for us to explore.Our findings aim not only to guide self-management on sleep habits but also to inform institutional scheduling structures.”
The results showed that trainee doctors with the most variable sleep schedules scored the highest on depression tests — they also had the worst moment-to-moment mood.Professor Srijan Sen, study co-author, said:
“These findings highlight sleep consistency as an underappreciated factor to target in depression and wellness.The work also underscores the potential of wearable devices in understanding important constructs relevant to health that we previously could not study at scale.”
Parents of young children will be well aware of the damaging effects of irregular sleep schedules on mental health.Ms Fang joked:
“I also wish my 1-year-old could learn about these findings and only wake me up at 8:21 a.m. every day.”
The study was published in the journal npj Digital Medicine (Fang et al., 2021).

What Your Sleep Reveals About Your Personality

Introverts and extraverts react differently to sleep deprivation.

Introverts and extraverts react differently to sleep deprivation.

Introverts are naturally better at dealing with sleep deprivation after a busy day of social interactions, research finds.

Despite being kept awake for 22 hours, introverts remained more alert than extroverts when tested the next day.

It may be because introverts generally have higher cortical arousal.

In contrast, extraverts are vulnerable to sleep loss after interacting with many people during the day.

After being kept awake all night, they were more sleepy the next day than introverts.

Dr Tracy L. Rupp, who led the study, said:

“Extroverts exposed to socially enriched environments showed greater vulnerability to subsequent sleep deprivation than did extroverts exposed to an identical but socially impoverished environment

The ability of introverts to resist sleep loss was relatively unaffected by the social environment.

Overall, the present results might also be interpreted more generally to suggest that waking experiences, along with their interaction with individual characteristics, influence vulnerability to subsequent sleep loss.”

The study included 48 people who did a series of tasks for 12 hours either on their own or in a group.

Everyone was then kept awake for 22 hours and given periodic tests of alertness.

Although introverts and extroverts usually slept about the same on a normal night, it was the introverts who did better on the tests after being sleep deprived.

The introvert’s ability to resist sleep loss could be down to genetic factors.

Social interactions are often complex and require people to regulate their attention and alertness.

As a result, more sleep may be required to recover.

Dr Rupp said:

“These data have practical relevance for occupational shift work and military operational assignments, and theoretical implications for understanding individual-difference factors influencing vulnerability or resiliency to sleep loss.”

The study was published in the journal Sleep (Rupp et al., 2010).

The Hidden Risks Of Staying Up Late At Night — Even For ‘Night Owls’ (M)

Night owls say they feel great at night, but what is the effect on their mental health?

Night owls say they feel great at night, but what is the effect on their mental health?

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Memory Doubled By Playing These Sounds During Sleep

These sounds played during sleep can enhance both memory and sleep.

These sounds played during sleep can enhance both memory and sleep.

Sounds played during sleep can enhance memory and may even benefit sleep, research finds.

The sounds, though, need to be in sync with the brain’s natural oscillations to work.

In the study 11 people were played ‘pink noise’ while they slept.

This sounds like gentle hissing that goes up and down — much like the lapping of waves on the beach.

Here is some pink noise to try out:

Measuring the electrical activity in the brain, they were able to synchronise the sounds with people’s brain waves.

When synchronised, people were better able to remember a list of words they had previously learnt.

In fact, they remembered nearly twice as many words.

If the sounds were out of sync, though, the effect was not seen.

Dr. Jan Born, who led the study, said:

“The beauty lies in the simplicity to apply auditory stimulation at low intensities — an approach that is both practical and ethical, if compared for example with electrical stimulation — and therefore portrays a straightforward tool for clinical settings to enhance sleep rhythms.”

The researchers think that keeping the sounds in sync may also help people to sleep.

They observed that the brain waves related to sleep were stronger when the sounds were in sync.

Dr Born said:

“…it might be even used to enhance other brain rhythms with obvious functional significance — like rhythms that occur during wakefulness and are involved in the regulation of attention.”

The problem for the home experimenter, though, is that the sounds need to be in sync.

Dr Born said:

“Importantly, the sound stimulation is effective only when the sounds occur in synchrony with the ongoing slow oscillation rhythm during deep sleep.

We presented the acoustic stimuli whenever a slow oscillation “up state” was upcoming, and in this way we were able to strengthen the slow oscillation, showing higher amplitude and occurring for longer periods.”

The study was published in the journal Neuron (Ngo et al., 2013).

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