Poor sleep can age your brain by 3 years, study finds

Everyone is concerned about aging skin, avoiding excessive sun exposure and applying expensive creams to prevent early aging. What about the aging brain?

When the brain ages faster than normal, cognitive decline begins. And do you know the culprit? Your dream.

Consider sleep an important brain care activity that rejuvenates and restores the health of your brain. Inability to fall asleep is a common condition that most sleep-deprived or self-proclaimed “night owls” casually brush off in the morning over a cup of coffee. But it appears there is more to sleep problems than meets the eye.

An American Academy of Neurology study published in the journal Neurology identified sleep disturbances in middle-aged adults, such as poor sleep quality or inability to fall asleep, as key warning signs of early brain aging. A study has found that sleep problems can speed up brain aging by up to 3 years.

Let’s see what else the study revealed.

More about the study

The study, which spanned decades, tracked the aging of participants. Initially, 589 people over the age of 40 were asked to fill out a questionnaire reporting their sleep problems. A second set of questionnaires was provided after 5 years. Finally, 15 years after the initial survey, brain scans were taken to find out how their brains were aging and whether this was related to their self-reported sleep patterns.

The researchers assessed their brain age, a measure of the rate at which the brain shrinks, which typically increases with age.

Years of brain aging

Researchers have found a correlation between the number of years of aging and the number of sleep problems. They found that people with two to three sleep problems showed signs of accelerated brain aging, with their brains appearing about 1.6 years older compared to those with only one sleep problem. Likewise, people with three or more sleep problems had brains that aged 2.6 years faster.

Researchers recommended developing a healthy sleep routine for good brain health. They suggested maintaining a strict and consistent sleep schedule, avoiding coffee and alcohol before bed, getting plenty of exercise, and using relaxation techniques when sleep problems arise.

Dr Christine Yaffe, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco and a member of the American Academy of Neurology, said: “Our findings highlight the importance of addressing sleep problems early in life to maintain brain health, including maintaining a consistent sleep schedule. exercise, avoid caffeine and alcohol before bed, and use relaxation techniques. Future research should focus on finding new ways to improve sleep quality and examining the long-term effects of sleep on brain health in young people.”

Dr Clémence Cavailles, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco and co-author of the study, added: “Our study, which used brain scans to determine the age of participants’ brains, suggests that poor sleep is associated with almost three years of extra sleep. brain aging already in middle age.”