Gaby
We spend a third of our lives asleep, often accompanied by dreams. Yet, despite the central role dreams play in our lives, we still know surprisingly little about why we dream, how our brains create these dreams, and most importantly, what significance they may hold for our health—especially for our brain health. This is particularly true for nightmares.
A study conducted by a team of neurologists at the University of Birmingham (UK), led by Abidemi Otaiku, revealed that dreams can unveil an astonishing amount of information about brain health.
The researchers found that frequent nightmares—those bad dreams that wake a person up—during middle and older age may be linked to an increased risk of developing dementia.
Nightmares are a common and serious sleep disorder, as well as an indicator of our mental and physical health.
How Was the Study Conducted?
The team analyzed data from three large studies focused on the health and aging of U.S. residents. The analysis included over 600 individuals aged 35 to 64 and 2,600 individuals aged 79 and older.
At the beginning of the study, none of the volunteers suffered from dementia. The researchers observed the middle-aged group for nine years and the older participants for five years.
Volunteers completed a series of questionnaires, including how often they experienced nightmares. The scientists then analyzed whether participants who reported frequent nightmares at the start of the study were more prone to cognitive decline, particularly rapid memory loss and thinking skills deterioration (up to a dementia diagnosis).
What Did the Researchers Discover?
It turned out that middle-aged participants who experienced nightmares weekly were four times more likely to show cognitive decline (a precursor to dementia) over the next decade. Meanwhile, among older participants who suffered from bad dreams, dementia was diagnosed twice as often.
Interestingly, the correlation between nightmares and future dementia was significantly stronger in men than in women.
For instance, older men who had nightmares weekly were five times more likely to develop dementia compared to older men who reported no bad dreams. In contrast, the risk for women increased by only 41 percent. A similar pattern was observed in the middle-aged group.
Overall, these results suggest that frequent nightmares may be an early sign of dementia. They can accelerate the onset of memory and thinking problems by several years or even decades, particularly in men, as reported by Science Alert.
The good news is that recurring nightmares are now treatable. It has already been proven that such treatment reduces the accumulation of abnormal proteins in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Future research by the team of neurologists will focus on investigating whether nightmares in younger individuals are linked to an increased risk of developing dementia.
This study not only shed new light on the connection between dreaming and potential dementia but also highlighted the need for timely diagnosis and possibly earlier medical intervention.
The findings were published in The Lancet.
