Chinese scientists from Shandong University have come to the paradoxical conclusion that a short sleep duration is a protective factor against senile dementia. Besides, people need to go to bed later.
A new study has shown that older people who prefer to go to bed early and sleep longer are more likely to experience senile dementia. So, those who went to bed before 21 o’clock and subsequently slept for more than 8 hours had a 70% higher risk of dementia. It is quite possible that these habits of going to bed early and sleeping for a long time are already an early warning that a person will develop serious memory disorders.
The conclusions of this study seem surprising when you consider how many scientific papers have talked about the impact of a rational daily routine on human health. They argued that people who get at least 8 hours of sleep and do not stay up late gain maximum benefits for their well-being in the short and long term, including the prevention of dementia. Quality sleep is almost always associated with good brain health, but a current study has shown that a person can not only lack sleep, but also oversleep.
If older people sleep more than usual, this is already an alarming symptom of future disorders of their intelligence and memory. Consequently, such people should be checked more often for the development of intellectual disorders in order to start therapy as early as possible.