We spend one-third of our lives asleep, and one-quarter of that time dreaming. This means that the average person living in 2022 will have an average life expectancy of roughly 73which is just a little over six years of dreaming.
Yet given the central role dreams play in our lives, we still understand very little about why we dream, how the brain generates them, and, importantly, what dreams mean for our health, and in particular the health of our brain.
My research published in 2022 Lancet Clinical Medicine journalhas shown that dreams can reveal a surprising amount of information about our brain health.
Specifically, it was shown that frequent bad dreams or nightmares (dream episodes that wake you up) during middle age and older age may be linked to an increased risk of developing cancer. dementia.
The study analyzed data from three large U.S. studies on health and aging, which included more than 600 people aged 35 to 64 and more than 2,600 people aged 79 or older.
All participants were dementia-free at the start of the study, and the middle-aged group were followed up for an average of nine years, while the older group was followed up for an average of five years.
At the start of the study (2002–2012), participants completed a range of surveys, including a questionnaire asking how often they had bad dreams or nightmares.
I analyzed the data to see whether participants who had more frequent nightmares at the start of the study were more likely to experience cognitive decline (a rapid decline in memory and thinking skills over time) and be diagnosed with dementia.
A weekly nightmare
Middle-aged participants who experienced weekly nightmares were four times more likely to experience cognitive decline (Precursor to dementia) Over the next 10 years, older participants were twice as likely to be diagnosed with dementia.
Interestingly, the association between nightmares and future dementia was much stronger for men than for women.
For example, older men who had weekly nightmares were five times more likely to develop dementia than older men who reported not having nightmares.
For women, however, the increased risk was only 41 percent. A very similar pattern was seen in middle-aged people.
Overall, these results suggest that frequent nightmares may be one of the earliest signs of dementia, and that, particularly in men, nightmares can appear years or even decades before the onset of memory and thinking problems.
Alternatively, regular bad dreams or nightmares could be a contributing factor to dementia.
Due to the nature of this study, we can’t say for sure which theory is correct (although I think it’s the former), but regardless of which theory is correct, the main takeaway from this study remains the same: regularly having bad dreams or nightmares in middle-aged and older adults may be linked to an increased risk of developing dementia later in life.
The good news is that recurring nightmares TreatableThe first-line treatment for nightmares is already Abnormal proteins Link to Alzheimer’s disease.
Also, Case report After treating the nightmares, there was an improvement in memory and thinking.
These findings suggest that treating nightmares may be able to slow cognitive decline and prevent the onset of dementia in some people — an important avenue to explore in future research.
Next steps in my research include investigating whether nightmares in young people are also associated with increased dementia risk, which could help determine whether nightmares cause dementia or whether for some people nightmares are simply an early symptom.
They also plan to examine whether other dream characteristics, such as how often a person remembers their dreams and how vivid they are, can help predict the likelihood of developing dementia in the future.
This research not only sheds light on the relationship between dementia and dreams, providing new opportunities for early diagnosis, Previous Interventions But it may also shed new light on the nature and function of the mysterious phenomenon we call “the universe.” dream.
AbidemiotikeNIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurology, University of Birmingham
This article is reprinted from conversation Published under a Creative Commons license. Original Article.
A previous version of this article was published in September 2022.
