Researchers support early treatment of sleeping difficulties.
Sleep needs and habits vary depending on age and person. It is generally recommended for adults to sleep at least 7 hours per night. Sleeping less than 6 hours is associated with a higher risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and even heart pathologies. But lack of sleep is also harmful to brain aging according to scientists from the American Academy of Neurology.
They followed 589 people aged around 40 and asked them to fill out a questionnaire about their sleeping habits. They then looked for the following disorders:
- if they had a short sleep duration,
- poor quality of sleep,
- difficulty falling asleep,
- waking up early in the morning,
- daytime sleepiness
Approximately 70% of subjects had 0 to 1 sleep disorder; 22% had 2 to 3 and 8% had more than 3. Fifteen years later, researchers used MRI scans to determine brain age based on age-related atrophy. “Our study suggests that poor sleep (at age 40, editor’s note) is linked to nearly three years of additional brain aging.declared Professor Clémence Cavaillès, one of the authors of the study whose results were published in the journal “Neurology”.
Specifically, people with 2 to 3 sleep disorders when they were 40 years old had a brain 1.6 years older and those with more than 3 sleep disorders had a brain 2.6 years older, compared to those who had no problems sleeping well. According to the researchers, poor sleep quality, difficulty falling asleep and maintaining sleep, and early morning awakening are associated with higher brain age, particularly when these disorders persisted during the 5-year follow-up.
“Our findings highlight the importance of treating sleep problems earlier in life to preserve brain health, including maintaining a regular sleep schedule, exercising, avoiding caffeine and alcohol before ‘going to bed and using relaxation techniques’declared Professor Kristine Yaffe, professor of psychiatry and co-author of the study, to conclude.