People who suffer from insomnia and other sleep disorders, may be prescribed medication to help them sleep at night. The impact can be life-changing as inability to sleep could disrupt one’s life. However, recent studies have shown a link between taking sleeping pills and increased risk of developing dementia.
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Sleeping pills and dementia
In the latest research conducted by a team of scientists from the University of California, San Francisco, it was found that the regular intake of sleeping pills could increase your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia by 79%. These findings were made based on data collected from some 3,068 people whose average age was 74. The participants had enrolled in the study for an average of nine years; 20% of them had developed dementia by the end of this period.
Another interesting discovery made was that white participants who made up close to 60% of the sample pool, were more likely to develop dementia than their black counterparts. Dr Yue Leng, from the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences espoused some theories to explain this:
Differences may be attributed to socioeconomic status. Black participants who have access to sleep medications might be a select group with high socioeconomic status, and thus greater cognitive reserve, making them less susceptible to dementia.
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Supporting evidence
This is not the first study to associate taking sleep medication to dementia. However, there’s still not much clarity on the risks or rewards of sleep medications on one’s cognitive functions, according to a press release issued by the University of California, San Francisco.
In the study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the researchers are hopeful their findings would be grounds for further research into the best approaches to suggest for people suffering from sleep disorder. Dr Leng concluded:
The first step is to determine what kind of sleep issues patients are dealing with. A sleep test may be required if sleep apnea is a possibility. If insomnia is diagnosed, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is the first-line treatment. If medication is to be used, melatonin might be a safer option, but we need more evidence to understand its long-term impact on health.
Sources used:
DailyMail: Using prescription sleeping pills may raise the risk of dementia by 80 PERCENT, study suggests
Express.co.uk: Popular medication taken by over a million people could increase dementia risk by 79%
University of California, San Francisco: Do sleep medications increase your chances of dementia?
