By Stephen Beech via SWNS
Sleepiness during the day may be an early warning sign of dementia, suggests a new study.
American researchers found that older people who are sleepy in daylight hours or lack enthusiasm for activities due to sleep issues may be more likely to develop a syndrome that can lead to the debilitating condition.
People with the syndrome have a slow walking speed and say they have some memory issues, although they do not have a mobility disability or dementia.
Called motoric cognitive risk syndrome, it can occur before dementia develops.
The new study found that people with excessive daytime sleepiness and a lack of enthusiasm to get things done were more likely to develop the syndrome than people without those sleep-related issues.
The research team says their findings, published in the medical journal Neurology, don’t prove that such sleep-related issues cause the syndrome, it only shows an association.
But study author Doctor Victoire Leroy, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, said: “Our findings emphasize the need for screening for sleep issues.
“There’s potential that people could get help with their sleep issues and prevent cognitive decline later in life.”
The study involved 445 people with an average age of 76 who didn’t have dementia.
They completed questionnaires about their sleeping habits at the start of the study and were also asked about memory issues.
Their walking speed was tested on a treadmill at the outset and then annually for an average of three years.
They were asked questions such as how often they had trouble sleeping because they woke up in the middle of the night, could not fall asleep within 30 minutes, or felt too hot or cold, and whether they took medicine to help them sleep.
The question to assess excessive daytime sleepiness asked how often people have had trouble staying awake while driving, eating meals or engaging in social activity.
The question of enthusiasm asks how much of a problem people have had keeping up enough enthusiasm to get things done.
A total of 177 people met the definition of poor sleepers while 268 were defined as good sleepers.
At the start, 42 people had motoric cognitive risk syndrome. Another 36 people developed the syndrome during the study period.
Of those with excessive daytime sleepiness and lack of enthusiasm, 35.5% developed the syndrome, compared to 6.7% of the participants without those problems.
After adjusting for other factors – such as age, depression and general health, the researchers found that people with excessive daytime sleepiness and lack of enthusiasm were more than three times more likely to develop the syndrome than those who didn’t have those sleep-related problems.
Dr. Leroy said: “More research needs to be done to look at the relationship between sleep issues and cognitive decline and the role played by motoric cognitive risk syndrome.”
She added: “We also need studies to explain the mechanisms that link these sleep disturbances to motoric cognitive risk syndrome and cognitive decline.”
