Sleep, win: Taking a regular nap of just five minutes can improve your mental agility and help prevent dementia, according to the study.
- The researchers studied the sleep patterns of more than 2,200 elderly Chinese people
- Each participant was also given a standardized dementia screening test
- Nappers scored better in terms of location awareness, memory, and verbal fluency
- However, the team warned that the study has not established causation
One study reported that regular naps, even just five minutes a day, can improve your mental agility and help prevent dementia.
Researchers from China studied the sleep patterns of 2,214 healthy adults aged 60 and over living in several large cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Xian.
Of the participants, 1,534 reported that they had taken a regular nap of between five minutes and two hours, while the remaining 680 individuals did not.
Each of the subjects also participated in a dementia screening test, with results that revealed “significant” differences between napping and not groups.
Sleeping in the afternoon was associated with a better awareness of location, verbal fluency, and working memory in older adults.
As people get older, their sleep patterns change and naps become more frequent.
Previous research has not been able to reach a consensus on whether napping can help combat dementia or whether it is actually a symptom.
In the developed world, about one in ten people over the age of 65 has dementia, with an increase in global life expectancy.
One study has reported (stock) that regular naps, even just five minutes a day, can improve your mental agility and help prevent dementia.
“In addition to reducing sleep, half-day naps offer a wide variety of benefits,” the researchers wrote in their article.
These, they explained, include “memory consolidation, preparation for later learning, improved executive functioning, and increased emotional stability, but these effects were not observed in all cases.”
However, the team warned that the study could not establish a causal relationship between napping and mental agility and further noted that the study did not take into account the duration or timing of naps. , which could be important.
The team found, however, that those who took naps regularly had higher levels of a fat called triglycerides in the blood, meaning the nap is related to risk factors for associated cardiovascular disease, according to the study.
The researchers also presented some possible explanations for the results, including the theory that sleep regulates the body’s immune response and that napping could be an evolutionary response to inflammation.
“Individuals with higher levels of inflammation also take a nap more often,” the researchers wrote in their article.
Researchers in China found that sleeping in the afternoon was associated with better awareness of location, verbal fluency, and working memory in older adults (stock image)
“Scientists continue to work to unravel the relationship between sleep and dementia,” said Sara Imarisio, British Alzheimer’s Research.
“Unusual sleep patterns are common for people with dementia, but research suggests that sleep changes may be evident long before symptoms such as memory loss begin to appear.”
The authors “could not find out if the daytime nap directly affected memory and thought, the research only showed a link between the two.”
“While other studies have also indicated a link between changes in sleep quality, a broader study is needed on various factors related to sleep, not just napping,” Dr. Imarisio added.
That, he said, “would paint a clearer picture of the link between dementia and sleep throughout the day.”
The full findings of the study were published in the journal General Psychiatry.
WHAT IS DEMENTIA? THE KILLING DISEASE THAT STOVES THE PATITS OF THEIR MEMORIES
Dementia is a general term used to describe a number of neurological disorders
A GLOBAL CONCERN
Dementia is a general term used to describe a series of progressive neurological disorders (affecting the brain) that affect memory, thinking, and behavior.
There are many different types of dementia, of which Alzheimer’s disease is the most common.
Some people may have a combination of dementia types.
Regardless of what type is diagnosed, each person will experience their dementia in their own unique way.
Dementia is a global concern, but is seen more often in richer countries, where people are likely to live into old age.
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED?
The Alzheimer’s Society reports that today there are more than 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK, of whom more than 500,000 have Alzheimer’s.
It is estimated that the number of people living with dementia in the UK by 2025 will increase to over one million.
In the United States, an estimated 5.5 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s. A similar percentage increase is expected in the coming years.
As a person’s age increases, so does the risk of developing dementia.
Diagnosis rates are improving, but it is believed that many people with dementia are not yet diagnosed.
IS THERE CARE?
There is currently no cure for dementia.
But new drugs can slow their progression and the sooner they are detected, the more effective the treatments will be.
Source: Alzheimer’s Society