Key points from article :
A large-scale study led by scientists from Cardiff University’s UK Dementia Research Institute and the NIH Intramural Centre for Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias (CARD) in the US has found that people diagnosed with sleep disorders may be up to twice as likely to develop neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia within 15 years. The research, one of the largest of its kind, analysed data from over one million electronic health records to investigate whether sleep issues could be a warning sign or a contributing factor to conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
The study, co-led by Dr. Emily Simmonds, a bioinformatician at the UK Dementia Research Institute, showed that individuals with multiple sleep disorders had an even greater risk. Importantly, the increased risk was observed regardless of a person’s genetic predisposition, suggesting that sleep disruption and genetics independently influence dementia risk.
By using detailed biobank data with timestamped medical records, the researchers were able to more accurately track the sequence of events—determining whether sleep issues typically precede neurodegenerative disease diagnosis. These findings strengthen the growing evidence linking poor sleep with brain health and highlight the potential for early intervention through better sleep monitoring and treatment.
