We all know that enough sleep is important for your brain.
But going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day is also linked to a lower risk of dementia, research suggests.
Scientists have found that very irregular sleep is associated with a 53 percent higher risk of the disease.
We all know that enough sleep is important for your brain. But going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day is also linked to a lower risk of dementia, research suggests
And they recommended that people who go to bed and wake up at different times every day should try to improve their sleep schedule – even moderately – to protect their brain health.
Author Matthew Pase, from Monash University in Melbourne, said: 'Sleep health recommendations often focus on getting the recommended amount of sleep, which is seven to nine hours per night, but there is less emphasis on maintaining regular sleep schedules.
'Our findings suggest that the regularity of a person's sleep is an important factor in assessing a person's risk of dementia.'
His team analyzed data from 88,000 people with an average age of 62 in Britain, who were followed for about seven years.
Around 900,000 Britons are currently thought to suffer from memory theft disorder. But in October, scientists at University College London estimated that this number will rise to 1.7 million within 20 years as people live longer. It represents an increase of 40 percent compared to the previous forecast in 2017
But they can also be a sign of dementia – the memory-robbing disorder that affects almost 1 million Britons and 7 million Americans
Participants wore a wrist device that measured their sleep cycles for a week, allowing researchers to calculate the regularity of their sleep.
A person who sleeps and wakes up at exactly the same times every day would have a sleep regularity index of 100, while someone who sleeps and wakes up at different times every day would have a score of zero.
The scientists then looked at medical data and found that 480 people developed dementia.
They found that, compared to people with an average sleep regularity index, the risk of dementia was highest in people who had the most irregular sleep.
People with the most irregular sleep had an average score of 41, compared to those who had the most regular sleep, who had an average score of 71.
People between these two groups had an average sleep regularity score of 60.
After taking into account age, gender and genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease, researchers found that those with the most irregular sleep were 53 percent more likely to develop dementia than people in the middle group.
For people with the most regular sleep, researchers found that they had no lower risk of developing dementia than people in the middle group.
“Effective sleep health education combined with behavioral therapies can improve irregular sleep patterns,” Pase said.
'Based on our findings, people with irregular sleep may only need to improve their sleep regularity to moderate levels, compared to very high levels, to prevent dementia.'
The findings have been published in the journal Neurology.