Research: Insomnia Risks Accelerating Brain Aging

Illustration of insomnia women (Photo: Freepik/jcomp)

JAKARTA - Insomnia is chronic not only making the body tired the next day. Recent research shows insomnia can accelerate the process of brain aging and increase the risk of dementia.

Reporting from The Washington Post page, a study published in the journal Neurology of the American Academy of Neurology found that elderly people with chronic insomnia tend to experience brain changes faster than those who sleep normally. These changes were detected through cognitive tests and brain scans.

The study involved 2,750 healthy adults cognitively with an average age of 70 years. The participants were followed for an average of 5.6 years and each year they underwent executive function tests, visual-spatial capabilities to memory.

As a result, 14 percent of people with chronic insomnia experience mild cognitive or dementia disorders compared to only 10 percent of those who sleep enough.

According to researchers, this difference shows chronic insomnia sufferers seem to age 3.5 years faster in terms of brain health.

Diego Z. Carvalho, a sleep medicine expert at the Mayo Clinic and lead author of the study emphasized that sleep shortages in middle age could be an early sign of nerve damage.

"It could be bad sleep from the start is an indicator of cognitive function reduction," said Carvalho.

"However, this study only shows that relationships are not causal. It is very difficult to separate them," he continued.

Meanwhile, Santiago Clocchiatti-Tu Tujuk, a neurology resident at Yale New Haven Hospital, said the duration of sleep also played an important role.

"People with insomnia who sleep less show cognitive results worse and more brain changes," he explained.

"If these results are confirmed in further research, the strategy of maintaining long-term brain health must pay attention to quality and length of sleep," he continued.

In recent years, more and more research has linked sleep patterns to the risk of brain disease. For example, a study at JAMA Neurology in 2021 found sleep less than six hours or more than nine hours per night related to a decrease in cognitive function, a higher body mass index and an increase in depression symptoms.

Karin G. Johnson, a sleep neurologist in Massachusetts also emphasized the importance of adequate sleep for brain health.

"Stide is the time when the brain works to clean the poison according to the sirkadian rhythm and this process is most optimal as we actually rest," Johnson said.

He hopes that awareness of sleep can be instilled from an early age.

"It is important to give people enough sleep. Even policy changes such as school entry hours that are more during the day can help shape healthy sleep habits for the younger generation." he added.