what a nightmare!
Poor sleep in your 40s can cause your brain to age faster – and you may feel the effects in your late 50s. A new study has revealed,
“Our findings highlight the importance of solution to sleep problems Maintaining brain health already includes maintaining a regular sleep schedule and exercising. avoiding caffeine and use alcohol and relaxation techniques before going to bed,” said study author Dr. Christine Yaffe of UC San Francisco.
Nearly 600 adults aged around 40 completed sleep questionnaires at the beginning of the study and five years later.
Questions included: “Do you usually have trouble sleeping?” “Do you usually wake up several times at night?” and “Do you usually wake up very early?”
Researchers observed that participants experienced shorter sleep duration, poorer sleep quality, trouble falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, early morning awakening, or daytime sleepiness. Experts generally recommend Keep your eyes closed for seven to nine hours a night.
The participants were divided into three groups based on their sleep characteristics. People in the lower group (about 70%) had none or even one of the six characteristics. Participants in the middle group (22%) had two or three, and those in the high group (8%) had four to six.
Fifteen years after the study began, participants underwent cranial scans that helped researchers calculate the age of their brains.
After calculating age and gender, high blood pressureBased on diabetes and other factors, the researchers determined that the brains in the middle group were an average of 1.6 years older than the brains in the low group. People in the high group had an average brain age of 2.6 years.
Of the six sleep habits, poor sleep quality, difficulty falling and staying asleep, and waking up early in the morning were associated with greater brain aging, especially when people experienced these problems for at least five years.
The findings were published in the online issue on Wednesday neurologyMedical Journal of American Academy of Neurology,
The researchers emphasized that their study, which was funded by the National Institute on Aging, does not prove that poor sleep accelerates brain aging — it only shows an association between the two.
A limitation of the research is that participants reported their sleep problems and may not have described them accurately.
“Future research should focus on finding new ways to improve sleep quality and examining the long-term effects of sleep on brain health in young people,” Yaffe said.
Wednesday in Neurology alsoYale researchers report that middle-aged people with uncontrolled blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol who do not exercise, eat healthy or do not sleep well are at a higher risk. higher risk of strokeDementia or depression later in life.
“Our study found that making these healthy lifestyle choices in middle age can have a meaningful impact on brain health in later life,” said study author Dr. Santiago Clochiati-Tuozzo.
