Excessive napping in the elderly is often overlooked.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Habits nap for more than an hour or several times a day can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease. According to studies, excessive napping has a two-way relationship with cognitive decline.
“The behavior of napping in the elderly is often ignored,” said researcher Peng Li, as reported by New AtlasSaturday (19/3/2022).
The study conducted by Li and his team involved more than a thousand elderly participants. For 14 days each year, participants were asked to use a device that could monitor movement. From this tool, researchers can calculate how long the participants took a nap.
This study lasted for 14 years. Each year, the participants also underwent tests to measure their cognitive decline.
The study found that the frequency and duration of naps appeared to increase with age. However, in people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the duration and frequency of naps appeared to be twice that of people who were not diagnosed with the disease.
“Longer and more frequent naps are associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s dementia,” concluded the research team.
In addition, the research team also found that more napping appeared to be associated with poorer cognition about a year later. On the other hand, poorer cognition was also associated with more excessive sleep habits that occurred in the following year.
Researcher Ye Leng said the study still had limitations. Therefore, this study cannot conclude that napping causes cognitive aging.
Even so, this study indicates that excessive napping habits could be a signal of the aging process or rapid cognitive aging.
“It will be interesting for future studies to explore whether napping interventions can help slow down age-related cognitive decline,” Leng said.
Leng added, the relationship between naps and cognitive decline found in this new study was not affected by the quality of sleep at night. The research team adjusted the data for the quantity and quality of sleep at night and the relationship between napping habits and cognitive decline remained the same.
Through this new study, Leng hopes that more attention will be paid to napping patterns. The researchers also appealed to the public to be able to recognize their own sleep patterns and be aware of any changes in these patterns.
“Sleep changes are important in shaping the internal changes in the brain associated with the circadian clock, cognitive decline, and dementia risk,” said Leng.
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