A new scientific study revealed that taking long naps during the day may lead to accelerated aging and Alzheimer’s disease
The latest study said that increasing the duration of naps over time is associated with a greater chance of developing mild cognitive impairment, according to the journal “alz-journals.”
Scientists also believe that excessive napping is more likely to be an early warning sign, rather than causing mental decline.
Study author Dr Yu Ling, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, said: ‘Long naps may be a sign of accelerating aging, and if you are not used to taking naps and notice that you are starting to feel more sleepy in the day, it could be. A sign of deteriorating cognitive health.
In the study, scientists tracked more than 1,000 people with an average age of 81 over several years, and each year the participants wore a watch-like device to track their movement for up to 14 days, and each prolonged period of inactivity was interpreted from 9 a.m. to 7 a.m. Evening as a “snooze”.
The participants also underwent cognitive assessment tests each year. At the start of the study, 76% of the participants had no cognitive impairment, 20% had mild cognitive impairment, and 4% had Alzheimer’s disease.
For participants who did not develop cognitive impairment, their daily daytime naps increased an average of 11 minutes per year, the rate of increase doubled after a diagnosis of MCI, to a total of 24 minutes, and nearly tripled to a total of 68 minutes after the Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
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