We know that there's a role for sleep in Alzheimer's disease, and we promote getting good sleep as a way of trying prevent the disease or perhaps to fight it. So what's the significance of napping during the day?
This weeks issue of Alzheimer's and Dementia the Journal of the Alzheimer's Association carried an interesting article about research that found a link between napping and developing AD. The bottom line: Older men who nap are more likely to develop AD. In fact, men with longer napping duration had greater cognitive decline and
higher risk of cognitive impairment. Men who napped for more than 120 min/day
(vs. less than 30 min/day) were 66% more likely to develop cognitive
impairment in 12 years. The final conclusion was, "Napping might be useful as an early marker of cognitive impairment in
the elderly, and its cognitive effects may differ by nighttime sleep."
So ... if you control your napping, does that reduce your risk for developing AD? I wouldn't count on it. A wise person once said, "Correlation does not imply causation."
The study was "Objective napping, cognitive decline, and risk of cognitive impairment in older men." "Objective napping" (as opposed to "subjective napping") refers to measuring sleep patterns with instruments. Subjective napping refers to measuring napping by keeping a log.
In my book, "Beating the Dementia Monster," I describe what has occurred since 2015 when I first knew I had memory problems. (You can find it on Amazon.com.) I have experienced remarkable improvement, and I’m certain that I can share valuable information with many others. In this second edition I continue my story to 2020 and provide greater understanding of how Alzheimer's advances and why what I did worked.
No comments:
Post a Comment