SYDNEY, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Older adults who experience frequent disturbing dreams may have a higher risk of developing dementia, particularly men and those in their 60s, an international study has revealed.
The research, led by the Center for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at Australia's University of New South Wales (UNSW), found that adults aged 60-69 who reported disturbing dreams were nearly four times more likely to develop dementia than those who did not, a UNSW statement said Wednesday.
Among men, weekly disturbing dreams were linked to a more than threefold increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to the study published in Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, which analyzed data from more than 10,000 adults aged 60 to 89 years across Asia, Europe, and South America.
"We found the strongest association in people in their 60s, which may suggest that disturbing dreams could be an early marker of dementia risk for some individuals," said Darren Lipnicki, lead author and research fellow at CHeBA.
"It's important to emphasize that not everyone who experiences disturbing dreams will go on to develop dementia," Lipnicki said, adding that they may instead be an early warning sign of underlying brain changes.
The study controlled for a wide range of factors, including sleep problems, medications, physical and mental health, cognitive performance, and genetic risk.
Several possible explanations for the association are being explored, including early brain changes, overactive threat-detection networks, or changes in the body's stress system that are associated with dementia risk. ■