{"id":38542,"date":"2026-03-23T07:59:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T23:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=38542"},"modified":"2026-03-23T07:59:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T23:59:35","slug":"how-poor-sleep-can-increase-dementia-risk-and-what-to-know-about-the-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=38542","title":{"rendered":"How poor sleep can increase dementia risk and what to know about the links"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/03\/20\/b61985ff-6097-459d-b3e2-7a02d9131dd8_33bb8b64.jpg?itok=gx4lh-8g&amp;v=1773985319\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">This is the 85th instalment in a<\/em> <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">series<\/em><\/span> <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">on dementia, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope.<\/em><\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">As an erratic sleeper, I worry when I see a headline such as this recent one from Science News: \u201cPoor sleep may account for a large share of dementia cases.\u201d<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">That headline topped an article about a recent study of older adults in the US. It found that about 13 per cent of dementia cases may have roots in insomnia, and that poor sleep may be as significant a dementia risk factor as <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">hearing loss<\/span> and <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">hypertension<\/span>.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">But then other studies suggest differently. For example, one large analysis from the Sleep and Dementia Consortium, in which 4,600 older adults in the US were followed for up to 19 years each, found that the amount of time spent in different sleep stages \u2013 light, heavy, REM and NREM \u2013 did not neatly predict who went on to develop dementia.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Sleep is certainly important \u2013 consider how awful you feel after <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">a bad night\u2019s sleep<\/span>. It affects our work, relationships, immunity \u2013 even our appetites. One sleep researcher says she can tell which of her colleagues had a bad night by how their canteen plates get loaded with \u201cbeige\u201d foods \u2013 soft, crunchy or salty carbohydrates and processed items like biscuits and crisps.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">We need good sleep. That is when the brain goes about housekeeping, clearing it of the toxic proteins that are hallmarks of Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/health-wellness\/article\/3347263\/how-poor-sleep-can-increase-dementia-risk-and-what-know-about-links?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is the 85th instalment in a series on dementia, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[4112,1780,7062,2029,1567,1026],"class_list":["post-38542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-dementia","tag-increase","tag-links","tag-poor","tag-risk","tag-sleep","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}