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A recent study discovered that individuals who have highly irregular sleep schedules may be at a heightened risk for developing dementia.
The results, released in the Neurology journal on Wednesday, demonstrated that the consistency of an individual’s sleep patterns – specifically, going to bed and waking up at consistent times each day – plays a significant role in their likelihood of developing dementia.
According to Matthew Paul Pase, a researcher from Monash University in Australia, sleep guidelines typically highlight the importance of getting the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night. However, there is not as much emphasis placed on maintaining consistent sleep schedules.
Although past research has connected inconsistent sleep patterns with metabolic issues and heart function, the impact on the development of dementia is still uncertain.
Scientists recently analyzed the health information of more than 88,000 individuals in the UK, with an average age of 62, over a period of seven years.
The scientists computed the consistency of participants’ sleep patterns by analyzing data from a wrist device worn for approximately one week, which tracked their sleep cycles.
The researchers calculated the likelihood of the participants being in the same sleep state (either asleep or awake) at two time points 24 hours apart, based on data from a seven-day period.
Individuals who maintained a consistent sleep and wake schedule every day scored 100 on the sleep regularity index, while those with varying sleep and wake times scored zero.
Dementia was observed in approximately 480 participants in the study.
Exploring the connection between sleep consistency scores and the likelihood of dementia, researchers discovered that individuals with the most inconsistent sleep patterns had the highest risk of developing the neurological condition.
th percentile had the
The individuals in the bottom 5% had the most inconsistent sleep, with an average score of 41. Meanwhile, those in the top 95% had the…th
The group in the 71st percentile consistently had the highest quality of sleep.
The study observed that the average sleep regularity score for participants in both groups was 60.
According to our research, individuals with inconsistent sleep patterns may only need to improve their sleep consistency to average levels, rather than very high levels, in order to reduce their risk of developing dementia. Further studies are necessary to validate our results,” stated Dr. Pase.
According to the study’s restrictions, experts stated that they are unable to exclude the possibility that an unidentified variable may contribute to the connection between consistent sleep patterns and dementia.
Researchers stated that the study does not establish a causal relationship between sleep irregularity and dementia, but rather demonstrates a correlation.
Source: independent.co.uk
