Longer Sleep Is Linked To Dementia In Old Age
September 8th, 2009
Do you like staying in bed till noon, napping in the afternoons and going to sleep before midnight? It turned out that such habit is not good for your health at many perspectives. Longer sleep is linked to a lack of physical activities, slowed down chemical processes in the body, increased risks of having such serious diseases as diabetes, hypertension and others, weight management problems, and so on. Recently, the specialists at the University Hospital of Madrid in Spain found one more reason to avoid having too much sleep: according to the results of their study, published the European Journal of Neurology, excessive sleep (more than 9 hours a day) can increase the risks of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in senior age.
During this study, the experts questioned 3,286 women and men over 65 on their lifestyle, including their usual daily sleep duration (night’s and afternoon sleeps). The patients provided the scientists with detailed information about their daily routine and sleep patterns. Then, the patients were tracked for three-year period of time, during which about 140 of the volunteers started displaying the symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. At that, Spanish experts noticed the connection between sleeping more than 8-9 hours a day and mental problems of the patients.
“Long sleep may be an early symptom of dementia, or could lead to an increased risk of it,” the specialists underline. “But the mechanisms underlying this association are not readily explainable.” According to Dr. Susanne Sorenson, a representative of the Alzheimer’s Society, this research did not result in finding a reason of the connection between long sleep and dementia. Early studies showed that in many cases, longer sleep duration is linked to prolonged depression and depressive mood, which, in turn, can cause dementia. “As currently only a third of people with dementia ever receive a formal diagnosis, more research is now needed to investigate these results,” Dr. Sorrenson says.
Posted in 
Tags:
My wife, at the age of 80, was diagnosed as having early stage dementia in July 2006. I took her car keys from her and she hasn’t driven since that date. At that particular time, she was very confused and exhibited short memory loss. Presently, she still has short term memory loss; however it has not worsened. We have good conversations about the wonderful events in our younger years. She remembers the names of our children, all our of 25 grandchildren, and all of our 30 great grandchildren, and she has great fun, when they visit with us. In the past six to nine months, her sleep periods have gradually gotten longer until now she would sleep all 24 hours, if I let her. Even during her periods of being awake, her eyes are closed, but she is listening to the conversations around her or is listening to the voices on the TV news or program. She is also losing her appetite and invariably tells me I have given her too much to eat. I take her vital signs twice a week and results tell me that she is healthier than I am.
Her blood pressure is normal at 122/81, her pulse is 60 to 65, her blood sugar is mostly in the range from 101 to 119, with occasional jumps to 132 and drops into the mid 90′s, and her oxygen level averages 93. So far, she has had no problems with her bowels or bladder, and she tells me that she is not experiencing any discomfort or pain in any part of her body. The blood tests taken by the Senior Health Center all come out good. I fear that her body and maybe her system is gradually beginning to shut down. She still has good use of her legs and is able to perform her own showers. We have a 4-wheel walker and a wheelchair. The walker is used, when she feels weak, but she is still able to move about on her own as long as I am nearby. May I have your opinion in regards to the excessive sleep? Is there anything I can do, besides letting her sleep all of the time?
Thank you,
Ray Howarth
(801) 274-2688