Study: Sleeping 9+ hours doubles risk of dementia

BOSTON — If you want to avoid getting a form of dementia in your later years, you should consider how long you sleep, a recent study finds. That’s because if you snooze for too long, you may actually doing your brain a disservice. 

Researchers at Boston University Medical Center examined data from 2,457 participants in the Framingham Heart Study, an established and ongoing project. They found that those who slept nine hours or more a night had double the risk of developing dementia than those who slept less than nine hours.  

Interestingly, the authors note that the increased incidence of dementia among those who sleep more was largely correlated with also having a low level of education e.g. less than a high school diploma. In fact, those who didn’t graduate high school were six times as likely to develop dementia within 10 years. “These results suggest that being highly educated may protect against dementia in the presence of long sleep duration,” co-author Sudha Seshadri, a professor of neurology, explains in a university release.

If you routinely sleep for too long, a dementia screening may be in order

Seshadri and her colleagues indicate that excessive sleep may very well just be a symptom of early-stage dementia or memory loss. “While self-reported sleep duration may be a useful clinical tool to help predict persons at risk of progressing to clinical dementia within 10 years,” they provide, it might just be a case of making the best with the cards you’re dealt.

Screening for dementia and related diseases as soon as possible can lead to the best overall outcomes.

Nevertheless, this finding is more timely than ever considering that dementia a broad categorical term that includes specific diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s is expected to continue to grow in incidence in the coming years amongst senior citizens.

By 2025, it is expected that 7.1 million Americans over the age of 65 will have Alzheimer’s.

The researchers published their findings in the journal Neurology.

Comments

  1. First, people who are sick will need more sleep, Eat less sugar. Eat more vegetables & tomatoes & you will be healthier. You will still need eggs, fish, chicken & meats for protein. Potatoes are a good carbohydrate. If you lack insulin, you will have dementia, take Coconut Oil to replace the insulin. If you do not have an insulin problem, take Turmeric, either one takes three months to be effective. Too much self rising flour has Aluminum, which causes Dementia, avoidance is good.

  2. You are right, if you are sick, you will sleep more. Less Sugar & eat more tomatoes & vegetables will improve your health, you still need meats, chicken fish & eggs. Dementia, Alzheimers, is cause by lack of insulin, take Coconut Oil for three months. If you do not have an insulin problem, Aluminum in baked goods causes Dementia, take Turmeric for three months.

    1. We use coconut oil, turmeric, and follow the diet you suggest. We also like to have a small bowl of blueberries two or three times per week as well. Well said, Lee!

      1. Hi Burt, Coconut oil is good for eye infection & to keep the ears from wax build up. I apply
        mine by dipping a Q tip in Coconut Oil & carefully insert the Q
        tip. The solid Coconut oil is best if you need an Anti Virus Medicine
        also helps the memory if you lack Insulin, Coconut Oil Helps the body
        to produce more Insulin. Turmeric is like a mild Aspirin, max dosage
        is 2000 mg per 100 lb person per day. 1/3 dosage is usually enough. I
        had gout during my last 15 working years & used Artichoke,
        Turmeric & Celery Seed pills from Swanson Vitamins. Vegetables,
        less salt, more water is good for gout. Turmeric is also good to
        clean the Aluminum from the brain, but if you live with delayed
        memory, it may be normal with age. If you get the Flu, put about ¼
        teaspoon of Garlic powder in a half glass of vegetable juice, it
        dosent taste so strong then, Garlic stops the Flu from multiplying,
        it dies of old age in three hours. Bugs dont like me much since I use
        a lot of Garlic, Powder usually works. Vegetable juice is a lazy way
        to get vegetables without cooking, a cup a day is enough, but you can
        have all the greens that you like. I had Colon Cancer, Carrots
        Cabbage Onion & Tomato in my Chili worked in Six months, when I
        got back with my wife, she got over her cancer in three months on
        Vegetable Juice, 1 cup a day. It is reoccouring for her, she gets too
        much Insulin, then takes sugar to stop the dizziness, then she has to
        take Vegetable juice, when she notices the cancer again. I need to
        loose weight, so I started taking Potatoes & an egg for most of
        my meals, usually flavored with Garlic & Pepper, I will need more
        exercise too. I have a low salt tollerance. Instant Potatoes are
        really handy when you are in a hurry. One teaspoon of Vinegar in a
        glass of water per day, is good to lower Cholesterol & to protect
        the Heart.

      2. Congrats on your victory to good health! I salute you! Since I have lousy healthcare (V.A.), I must go the rout you have, and I’m in better health now, since I told the V.A. to keep their poison that Big Pharma has foisted upon us.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *