Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: New research suggests there may be a link between prolonged sleep and the risk of dementia. The research was led by Dr. Sudha Seshadri, professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), and the findings were published in the journal Neurology. Researchers examined data from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS). For this study, a large number of adults enrolled in the FHS were asked to report how long they usually slept per night. The researchers then clinically followed the participants for 10 years to see who developed Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. BUSM researchers then examined the data collected on sleep duration and calculated the risk of developing dementia. The team found that people who sleep regularly for 9 hours or more were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s within 10 years, compared to those who consistently slept less than 9 hours. Dr. Sudha Seshadri said that “Participants without a high school degree who sleep for more than 9 hours each night had six times the risk of developing dementia in 10 years as compared [with] participants who slept for less. These results suggest that being highly educated may protect against dementia in the presence of long sleep duration.” As a consequence, they speculate.