Study: Daytime sleepiness may indicate pre-dementia syndrome

Older adults who are sleepy during the day or are less than enthusiastic about activities due to sleep problems may be more likely to develop a syndrome that can lead to dementiafinds new research.

Symptoms of motor-cognitive risk syndrome include slow walking speed and memory problems, although people do not have mobility impairment or dementia. The syndrome may occur earlier than dementia, the researchers say. The report was published on Wednesday in Neurology.

The study found that people with excessive daytime sleepiness and lack of enthusiasm for daily activities are more likely to develop the syndrome than people without such sleep problems. The researchers studied 445 people with an average age of 76 years. None of the participants had dementia at the start of the study.

Participants answered questionnaires that covered sleep and memory problems, such as how often they woke up in the middle of the night or had to take medications or supplements to help them sleep. The team tested participants’ walking speed on a treadmill at the beginning of the study and then every year for an average of three years.

Among the participants, 177 slept poorly and 268 slept well.

At the start of the study, 42 people had motor-cognitive risk syndrome. During the study, 36 more people developed the syndrome. Among people with excessive daytime sleepiness and lack of enthusiasm, 35.5% developed this syndrome, compared with 6.7% of people without such problems. The team found that people with excessive daytime sleepiness and lack of enthusiasm were more than three times more likely to develop the syndrome than those without such sleep problems.

The study authors noted that this syndrome does not mean a person will automatically develop dementia, but there is a connection between the two.

“Our findings highlight the need to screen for sleep problems,” Victoria LeRoy, MD, a researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. “It is possible that people could get help with their sleep problems and prevent cognitive decline later in life.”