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Sleep is essential to our health and well-being, but moderation is best in everything, including sleep. thehealthsiteA new study published in the journal Brain Lack of sleep as well as excessive sleep may affect your cognitive performance.
The study, which was led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found that older adults who slept short or long ago experienced greater cognitive decline than those who slept moderately, even after considering the effects of early Alzheimer’s disease.
“Short and longer periods of sleep were associated with worse cognitive performance, possibly due to poor sleep or poor sleep quality,” said first author Brendan Lucy, associate professor of neurology and director of the University of Washington Sleep Medicine Center.
Sleep, Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive function
Both lack of sleep and Alzheimer’s are associated with cognitive decline, and separating the effects of each has been a major challenge for researchers. After several years of research, the University of Washington team was able to decipher the complex relationship between sleep, Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive function. They did so by tracking cognitive function in A large cohort of older adults analyzed against levels of Alzheimer’s disease-related proteins and measurements of brain activity during sleep.
The main cause of cognitive decline in the elderly is Alzheimer’s disease, which contributes to about 70% of cases of dementia. Lack of sleep is a common symptom of Alzheimer’s disease also known to accelerate the progression of the disease. Impaired cognitive performance among short and long sleepers has been shown in studies. Previous studies also, but such studies do not usually include assessments of the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on cognition.
In the new study, researchers analyzed sleep and Alzheimer’s disease data for 100 participants whose cognitive function was monitored for 4½ years. Of these, 88 had no cognitive impairment, 11 had very mild impairment, and one had mild cognitive impairment. The average age of volunteers is 75 at the time of the study.
The research team at the University of Washington found lower cognitive scores for participants who slept less than 4.5 or more than 6.5 hours per night. The results indicated that they slept less than 5.5 hours or more than 7.5 hours per night.
However, each person’s sleep needs are unique, so people who wake up rested on short or long sleep schedules may not need to change their habits and if you don’t sleep well, researchers want you to know that sleep problems often can treated.
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