Study shows poor sleep in early middle age is linked to brain aging

New Delhi: brain scan High levels of shrinkage are detected – an indication of brain aging –among poor people sleep quality According to one study, in early middle age. A group of 589 people aged an average of 40 answered sleep questionnaires at the beginning of the study and again five years later. The participants’ brains were scanned 15 years after the study began.
“Our study, which used brain scans to determine the brain age of participants, suggests that poor sleep “Early middle age is associated with approximately three years of additional brain aging,” said Clemens Cavallis of the University of California San Francisco, corresponding author of the study published in the journal Neurology.
Poor sleep habits are linked to poor thinking and memory later in life, increasing people’s risk of dementia, Cavallis said.
The sleep habits of the participants were categorized as – short sleep duration, poor sleep quality, difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, early morning awakening, and daytime sleepiness. Thus they were divided into three groups according to low, medium and high levels of poor sleeping habits.
Brain shrinkage revealed in brain scans was used to measure brain age, with higher levels indicating greater age, the researchers said.
The team found that people with moderate levels of poor sleep habits had an average brain age 1.6 years older than those with low levels of poor sleep habits.
People who had higher levels of poor sleep habits had an average brain age that was 2.6 years older than those with lower levels of poor sleep habits.
“Our findings highlight the importance of addressing sleep problems earlier in life to maintain brain health, including maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, exercising, avoiding caffeine and alcohol before going to bed and Including using relaxation techniques,” said author Christine Yaffe from the University of California. San Francisco, said.
“Short sleep linked to increased brain aging mid life“highlights the importance of investigating early sleep interventions to preserve brain health,” the authors wrote.