If you’ve had a horrible night’s sleep, the prospect of a nap later in the day may be the only thing that gets you through the day.

While sleeping during the day may sound appealing, new research reveals that it could be a sign of Alzheimer’s disease.

According to new research, older adults who sleep during the day are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, while short-term sleep may be a symptom of the disease’s progression.

Dr. Yue Leng, research author and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, said the elderly, particularly those with dementia, “should pay more attention to their daytime napping behaviors”.

Analyzing the reasons for the correlation between the two, Dr. Leng stressed that “it could be a reflection of underlying Alzheimer’s pathology at the preclinical stage that affects the wake-promoting network and contributes to increased daytime sleepiness,” adding that “Excessive daytime napping might also impact and interact with nighttime sleep, resulting in altered 24-hour circadian rhythms, which has also been linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s.”

More than 1,400 older Americans, with an average age of 81, participated in the study by wearing a watch-like activity monitor for two weeks each year. A nap was defined as any period of inactivity between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Every year, participants were subjected to a battery of neurological exams.

Moreover three-quarters of the patients had no symptoms of cognitive impairment when the trial began, 19.5 percent had mild cognitive impairment, and slightly more than 4 percent had Alzheimer’s disease.

Those who did not develop cognitive impairment during the nearly 14-year follow-up increased their daily napping by about 11 minutes per year. According to the research, the more naps you take, the faster your memory and reasoning skills deteriorate.

According to a study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the rate of increase in daytime sleep nearly quadrupled after the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and nearly doubled after the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Another goal of the research was to see if napping is linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Versus find an answer, the researchers examined participants who had normal memories and thinking skills at the beginning of the study but developed Alzheimer’s disease to those whose thinking remained steady throughout the trial. They discovered that older persons who napped for more than an hour every day had a 40% increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

According to research author Dr. Aron Buchman, Alzheimer’s disease impacts more than only memory and reasoning skills. He is a neurologist at Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center and a professor of neurology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Experts who were not involved in the study, however, cautioned that it is too early to link midday sleep to Alzheimer’s disease.

“At age 80, even with no symptoms, it is quite common to have Alzheimer’s pathology in the brain,” explained Ricardo Osorio, director of the Center for Sleep and Brain Health at NYU Langone in New York City.

“We need to tease out the other things that may cause people to nap more before drawing conclusions,” added Osorio.

“Even though the study does not tell us the cause for why people need to nap more, it should remind us the importance of daytime stimulation, seeking help with depression, and high-quality sleep, and checking with your doctor for things like sleep apnea, especially when we are sleepy during the day,” said Dr. Derek Chong, vice chair of neurology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

Source: 10.1002/alz.12636

Image Credit: Getty

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