Suffering from insomnia? Sleepless nights could age you fast and boost dementia risk by 40%, experts warn

People have long thought that insomnia was nothing more than a “problem with sleeping” for a long time, but new research has shown that it can be much worse than that. A major study found that people with chronic insomnia have more than 40% more likely to develop dementia or mild cognitive disorder. This means that people with chronic insomnia experience their brains more than three years faster.

The results published in neurology make it even more important to treat insomnia as both sleep disorder and possible long -term brain health risk. According to experts, according to a report by Medical News today, people who do not get enough sleep shows that they should no longer ignore the problem, especially elderly adults.

How was it done on dementia and insomnia?

The study looked at 2,750 adults with an average of 70 years of age. Initially, they were all mentally healthy. Approximately six percent of the people participating had chronic insomnia, which meant that they had difficulty sleeping at least three nights a week for more than three months.

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About six years later, the participants were asked how they slept, tested their memories and thinking, and made brain scans. Today, according to a report by Medical News, white matter searched for hyperintensitis (small changes in the blood vessels of the brain) and beta-amiloid plaques (a sign of Alzheimer’s disease). Head writer from Mayo Clinic. Diego Z. Carvalho said the target was to find ways to combine insomnia and memory loss. “In order to understand how insomnia may be related to cognitive decrease, we focused on examining the effect of insomnia on different brain health markers.” “Is it just because of the Alzheimer’s disease in our white matter, such as amyloid or cerebrovascular roads?” he asked.

How likely you get dementia?

At the end of the study, researchers found that people with chronic insomnia were 40% higher than people without chronic insomnia.

They said the high risk was the same as aging for 3.5 years or having two cardiometabolic states such as diabetes and high blood pressure. “This is an important finding, because () insomnia will bring to the day of potential changeable risk factors.

Which changes in the brain are linked to not being able to sleep sufficiently?

It was discovered that less sleeping people had more amyloid plaques and white substance hyperlintensites in their brain. Both of these are symptoms of cognitive decrease.

“This helps to understand how insomnia can be related to cognitive decrease.” Carvalho said. He said.

“Reduced sleepy insomnia is not only related to biobelirties of Alzheimer’s disease, such as amyloids, but also with the white substance hyperintensitis, as shown with greater evidence for small vascular disease, weaker cerebrovascular health is associated with two independent mechanisms known to be related to two independent mechanisms.

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In addition, insomnia, today, according to the report of medical news, one of the Alzheimer’s disease and the other to damage the blood vessels in the brain can change the brain in two different ways, he said.

Why is insomnia so ignored?

Although many people have insomnia, they are still not well known or not treated. Carvalho said that older people often decided that their symptoms are a normal part of aging. “Elderly patients often think that bad sleep is normal. Although there are age -dependent changes affecting sleep quality, chronic insomnia goes beyond that and cannot be equalized to age -related changes.” He said.

According to him, sleep tests should be a normal part of medical examinations. This is particularly important for elderly people who cannot talk about sleep problems, according to the report of medical news today.

What treatments can help with long -term insomnia?

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT-I) is thought to be the best way to treat insomnia. According to Carvalho, more people will make a major difference in their primary levels and CBT-ı through online platforms and applications. “I hope that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, which is the most common type of treatment for insomnia, can be used in primary level environments around the country.” He said.

How do experts see these results?

Dr. Christopher Allen said the results were important and medically significant. ““ The signal of this study touches multiple ways: cognition, amyloid biology and cerebrovascular integrity. These treatments actually reinforce sleep. The upper side of public health is very big because the improvement of sleep is a leverage that patients can attract. ”

He made it clear that insomnia is not just tired. “Long -term insomnia is more than just a ‘feeling tired’. Attention may vary over time in your memory and processing speed.”

A clinical neuropsychologist Doctor Megan Glenn accepted. He said he saw old people who have difficulty sleeping and worried about losing their memories. “It is good news for this study not to get enough sleep and not only the cognitive symptoms, but also the brain finding a connection between changes that can be seen and the risk of future drops,” he said.

What does this mean for everyone’s health?

Experts say that most of the risk factors that may lead to demans can be changed, although the risks have increased for decades. Glenn said that people can really benefit from getting help with hearing, blood pressure, sleep and physical activities. “The work shows that if these things are fixed, approximately 45% of the cases of dementia can be postponed or stopped.” He said.

The study shows that insomnia is one of these risks that can be changed. People can reduce both the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and problems with blood vessels in the brain by sleeping better.

What are the next steps for the study?

Experts say there is a need for further research, especially those who use objective sleep monitoring and contain a wider range of people. They also want to know if insomnia can directly better improve behavioral treatments or medication for cognitive functions.

“If permanent insomnia makes a marker or even a modest contribution to brain fragility, defining and treating it becomes a part of not only symptom relief, but a part of brain health.” He said.

Insomnia is more than just having difficulty sleeping. This study shows that having chronic insomnia can accelerate brain aging, increase the risk of dementia by 40%and cause bad changes in the brain. One of the six people around the world suffers from insomnia, so these results make sleep an even more important part of protecting brain health.

FAQ

What is long -term insomnia?
Someone is forced to sleep at least three nights a week for more than three months.

How much does long -term insomnia increase the risk of dementia?

It is the same as adding 3.5 years to the age of your brain.