Table of contents:
- Excessive sleep increases the risk of dementia
- What is dementia?
- Symptoms of dementia
- What is the ideal amount of sleep?
Sleep is a basic human need. During sleep, the cells in the body repair themselves and renew energy back. Thus, adequate sleep time is needed to support health. You may often hear that lack of sleep can cause stress, tomorrow's weakness, and a nuisance mood, and so forth. But not only that, excess sleep can also increase the risk of dementia, according to recent research.
Excessive sleep increases the risk of dementia
A study published in the journal Neurology recently has proven that sleeping excessively can increase the risk of dementia. Research led by Dr. Sudha Seshadri, professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), was done by collecting the sleep time of study participants each night. Researchers also followed the progress of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia in participants for 10 years.
As a result, researchers found that participants who slept more than 9 hours had twice the risk of developing dementia 10 years later, compared with participants who slept for 9 hours or less.
The study also proved that participants who slept more than 9 hours had a smaller brain volume than participants who slept for 6-9 hours. This is because there is a decrease in brain function (the brain is less successful at processing thoughts and completing tasks), thereby increasing the risk of dementia.
The results of this study may help predict people who are at risk of developing dementia. Sleeping too long can also be an early sign a person develops neurodegenerative disease (a disease that attacks brain cells and spinal cord). It is unlikely that efforts to reduce the amount of time you sleep will reduce the risk of dementia.
What is dementia?
Dementia is not a disease. This is a term used to describe the various symptoms associated with decreased memory or other thinking abilities. Alzheimer's is one of the causes of a person experiencing dementia. People with dementia usually have problems with short-term memory.
Dementia is caused by damage to brain cells. This disrupts the ability of brain cells to communicate with each other. Thus, brain function can be impaired and can affect your ability to think, behave, and feel. Unfortunately, most of the changes in the brain that cause dementia are permanent and can worsen over time.
Symptoms of dementia
People with dementia usually show symptoms, such as
- Difficulty in speaking and understanding speech
- It's easy to forget dates and days
- It's easy to forget an item and can't remember / trace where you last saw the item
- Difficulty completing daily work such as preparing food
- There are changes in personality and mood
- Feeling depressed
- Hallucinating
- Having problems controlling emotions
- Loss of empathy
What is the ideal amount of sleep?
Sleep can be an indicator of overall health and well-being. Thus, adequate sleep is very important to fulfill. The amount of sleep you need varies between ages. For adults aged 18-64 years, sleep time required is 7-9 hours. Meanwhile, seniors aged 65 years and over need 7-8 hours of sleep. Sleep less than 7 hours can increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, and mental stress.
