Sleeping Too Little in Middle Age May Increase Dementia Risk

Researchers have pondered about how sleep relates to cognitive decline.

Answers have been elusive because it is hard to know if insufficient sleep is a symptom of the brain changes that underlie dementia — or if it can actually help cause those changes.

Now, a large new study reports some of the most persuasive findings yet to suggest that people who don’t get enough sleep in their 50s and 60s may be more likely to develop dementia when they are older.