Approximately 5% of adults have at least one nightmare a week — and this may indicate a higher risk of developing dementia, according to a clinical study of middle-aged people to analyze sleep quality. The result of the research showed that the volunteers with the highest frequency of bad dreams were the most likely to be diagnosed with cognitive problems in the future. 6v1r33
Research analyzed risk of dementia in more than 3.000 people 5u6w18
The research, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, was conducted by the doctor Abidemi Otaiku, from the University of Birmingham. The researcher, who also drew on previous studies on sleep quality, followed more than 600 adult men and women aged between 35 and 64 years, in addition to 2.600 people aged 79 years or more.
At the beginning of the study, which took place between 2002 and 2012, participants had no signs of dementia and, to record accurate data, the youngest group was followed for nine years, while the oldest for five. All completed a series of questionnaires, including the Sleep Quality Index from Pittsburgh, which includes questions about the frequency of frightening dreams.
The collected data were analyzed using a with statistic that showed the following result: middle-aged participants who had at least one nightmare per week were four times more likely to experience cognitive decline in the next decade. Older volunteers, on the other hand, had twice as likely.
According to Dr. Abidemi, the hypothesis for these results is that the neurodegeneration in the right frontal lobe of the brain makes it difficult for people to control their emotions while dreaming, leading to nightmares.
We know that neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease often start many years before someone is diagnosed. In some individuals who already have underlying illnesses, nightmares may be one of the first signs
Dr Abidemi
The study also found that the risk is greater in men. The results showed that older participants with weekly nightmares were five times more likely to cognitive declines in relation to those who did not report nightmares. In women, the increase was only 41%.
The next step in the research is to investigate whether nightmares among young people can generate similar problems. With the aid of electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers also want to investigate the biological basis of bad dreams in both healthy people and people with dementia.
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Sources: ScienceDaily, Slashdot, TheGuardian.
