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NEW DELHI: People who have disrupted sleep in their 30s and 40s are twice as likely to have memory and thinking problems a decade later, suggests a new study published in the journal Neurology that analysed the duration and quality of sleep of 526 people with an average age of 40 for 11 years. They were also make to take part in a series of memory and thinking tests.
The researchers found that of the 175 people with ‘most disrupted’ sleep, 44 had poor cognitive performance 10 years later, compared to 10 of the 176 people with the ‘least disrupted’ sleep.
“Given that signs of Alzheimer’s disease start to accumulate in the brain several decades before symptoms begin, understanding the connection between sleep and cognition earlier in life is critical for understanding the role of sleep problems as a risk factor for the disease,” said study author Yue Leng of University of California, San Francisco. “Our findings indicate that quality rather than quantity of sleep matters most for cognitive health in middle age,” she added.
Cognitive function refers to mental processes involved in the acquisition of knowledge, processing of information, and reasoning.
According to Dr Shamsher Dwivedee, director (neurology) at Max Healthcare, good sleep has a restorative effect on the brain. Poor sleep, on the other hand, is known to disrupt that process and, therefore, increase the vulnerability of cognitive decline in a person.
“These days, many young people working in the corporate sector come to us with complaints about brain fog, a syndrome characterised by confusion, forgetfulness, and a lack of focus and mental clarity. Some also complain about memory problems. Most of it is caused by poor sleep,” he said.
An average adult requires at least seven hours of quality sleep for better health. For children, doctors recommend, even longer duration – anywhere between 8-12 hours depending on the child’s age. Doctors, however, say obsession with watching TV, playing video games or indulging in activities on social messaging apps has left even the young ones sleepless.
“Short-term effects of lack of sleep are well known and we often encounter it while examining school children. They come with complaints of lack of concentration and bad mood. The long-term effects are, however, less understood. But we need not wait for the results. It will be more prudent to act in advance to prevent potential damage that poor sleep may inflict upon the children in the long run by educating them as well as their parents about the importance of good sleep,” said Dr Samir Parikh, director, department of mental health and behavioural sciences at Fortis Healthcare said.



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