Scientists have advised that an early warning sign of dementia could appear in your sleep. According to a study, this red flag could become noticeable years or even decades ahead of other symptoms.
The research, published in The Lancet journal, suggests nightmares may become prevalent long before the characteristic memory and thinking problems of dementia set in.
Dr Abidemi Otaiku, from the University of Birmingham which led the investigation, said: “We’ve demonstrated for the first time that distressing dreams, or nightmares, can be linked to dementia risk and cognitive decline among healthy adults in the general population.
“This is important because there are very few risk indicators for dementia that can be identified as early as middle age.
“While more work needs to be done to confirm these links, we believe bad dreams could be a useful way to identify individuals at high risk of developing dementia, and put in place strategies to slow down the onset of disease.”
As part of the study, Dr Otaiku examined data from three community-based cohorts in the US. These included more than 600 adult men and women aged between 35 and 64; and 2,600 adults aged 79 and older.
At the start of the study all the participants were dementia-free. They were then followed up for an average of nine years for the younger group and five years for the older participants.
Participants completed a range of questionnaires, including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which asked how often they experienced bad dreams. This revealed that middle-aged people (35-64) who experience bad dreams on a weekly basis are four times more likely to experience cognitive decline over the next 10 years, and older people were twice as likely to be diagnosed with dementia.
On top of this, the study discovered that the associations between nightmares and dementia were much stronger for men than for women. Older men experiencing nightmares on a weekly basis were five times more likely to develop dementia than older men who reported no bad dreams.
But in women the increase in risk was only 41%. A release by the University of Birmingham concluded that further research was needed to determine whether nightmares among young people could be associated with future dementia risk, and whether other dream characteristics, such as how often we remember dreams and how vivid they are, could also be used to identify dementia risk.
The Alzheimer’s Society reports that the following sleep issues can affect people with dementia:
- Insomnia
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Sleep-disordered breathing
- Restless legs syndrome
- Periodic limb movement disorder
- REM behavioural sleep disorder.
If this is the case, they may need extra support. The charity said: “Over time the person will need more support, especially if your own sleep is often disturbed. If the person you care for is frequently up in the night, it may be possible to have a night sitter.
“This is a carer who will look after the person with dementia at night, to help you to have a good night’s sleep. A person with dementia and severe sleep problems may need to be cared for by a live-in or visiting carer, or in residential care.”
