Shorter Sleep Times Speed Brain Aging
With less sleep, normal aging-related structural changes in the brain progress slightly faster in middle-aged and older people, according to a new brain imaging study.
Sleep troubles are more common with age, and shrinkage of certain brain structures is normal. But for the over-55 study participants, those changes could be seen accelerating slightly with each hour less of sleep each night.
“Among older adults, sleeping less will increase the rate their brain ages and speed up the decline in their cognitive functions,” said lead study author Dr. June Lo, a researcher with Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore.
Plenty of past research has shown that lack of sleep can worsen fuzzy thinking and memory problems in the short term, and at all ages, Lo and her colleagues note in the journal Sleep.
“Our lab has also shown repeatedly in the past decade that in young adults, brain and cognitive functions are affected when people do not have enough sleep,” she told Reuters Health in an email. “As a result, we wanted to know whether sleeping less would affect brain and cognitive aging in older adults.”
When the cognitive tests and scans were repeated two years after the initial round, the researchers found those participants who slept fewer hours showed evidence of faster brain shrinkage and declines in cognitive performance.
The ventricles are fluid-filled spaces in the brain, and they expand as the brain ages, indicating a shrinkage of brain tissue. Faster ventricle enlargement is a marker for cognitive decline and the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, according to the authors.
“Some have proposed that sleep loss increases inflammation which has a negative impact on the brain, but our own data do not support this view,” she said. “Alternatively, short sleep is associated with other medical conditions which may accelerate brain aging.”
Dr. William Kohler said that although the new study was small, it was interesting and makes sense overall. Kohler, who was not involved in the study, is medical director of the Florida Sleep Institute.
Kohler added that as we age, our sleep mechanisms weaken so it’s harder to get to sleep, but there are things people can do to improve sleep.
“Avoid napping during the day, have a firm routine as far as going to bed at the same time, get up at the same time and try to ensure that we get to sleep by following good sleep hygiene techniques,” he said.
Kohler suggested that the environment should be dark and quiet enough for sleep and that the mattress should be comfortable. In addition, he suggested avoiding alcohol, cigarettes and exciting activities close to bedtime.
“Many people think that sleep is something you can sacrifice if you have work to do, a game to watch, etc.,” Lo said. “Therefore, insufficient sleep is so common that CDC has announced this as a public health epidemic.”
She added that people should understand sleep is crucial for many physiological functions, such as cell repair and memory consolidation.
“Knowing that there are negative health consequences of sleep loss may motivate some to sleep more,” she said. “Having good sleep hygiene and habits may improve the amount and quality of sleep.”
via Blogger http://bit.ly/1mopTpN
Recent Comments