Long Naps May Be Early Sign of Alzheimer's Disease, Study Shows (theguardian.com) 25
Taking long naps could be a precursor of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study that tracked the daytime sleeping habits of elderly people. From a report: The findings could help resolve the conflicting results of the effects of napping on cognition in older adults, with some previous studies highlighting the benefits of a siesta on mood, alertness and performance on mental tasks. The latest study suggests that an increase over time in naps was linked to a higher chance of developing mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's. The scientists think it is more likely that excessive napping could be an early warning sign, rather than it causing mental decline.
"It might be a signal of accelerated ageing," said Dr Yue Leng, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco. "The main takeaway is if you didn't used to take naps and you notice you're starting to get more sleepy in the day, it might be a signal of declining cognitive health." The scientists tracked more than 1,000 people, with an average age of 81, over several years. Each year, the participants wore a watch-like device to track mobility for up to 14 days. Each prolonged period of non-activity from 9am to 7pm was interpreted as a nap. The participants also underwent tests to evaluate cognition each year. At the start of the study 76% of participants had no cognitive impairment, 20% had mild cognitive impairment and 4% had Alzheimer's disease.
"It might be a signal of accelerated ageing," said Dr Yue Leng, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco. "The main takeaway is if you didn't used to take naps and you notice you're starting to get more sleepy in the day, it might be a signal of declining cognitive health." The scientists tracked more than 1,000 people, with an average age of 81, over several years. Each year, the participants wore a watch-like device to track mobility for up to 14 days. Each prolonged period of non-activity from 9am to 7pm was interpreted as a nap. The participants also underwent tests to evaluate cognition each year. At the start of the study 76% of participants had no cognitive impairment, 20% had mild cognitive impairment and 4% had Alzheimer's disease.
msmash takes long naps (Score:5, Funny)
Apparently our msmash takes long naps: https://science.slashdot.org/s... [slashdot.org]
Re: (Score:2)
You beat me by 1 minute, you sonofagun!
Dup-de-dup doop (Score:2)
I'll be here all week, folks. Or maybe not.
Anyway, the Subject is not even the joke I was looking for. I was expecting FP to lead with something more directly like posting the dup as a symptom of you-know-what. Oh wait. If you have it then you probably don't know what.
But it is a bit unusual to see the dup so close to the first (unless the first was a dup of a story that's already fallen off the top page). In which case we're back to dup-de-dup territory.
Re: (Score:2)
LOL. The one topic that editors shouldn't have duped.
I think it's pretty clear that these people don't read /. as frequently as you or I.
Re: (Score:2)
I'd post it daily just to enrage people.
Re: (Score:2)
Modus operandi checks out.
Re: (Score:2)
I wish i was modding ! :D
Troll? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Can't blame them for taking my sig seriously. :D
Re: (Score:2)
so is "drunk texting" getting replaced with "nap posting"?
hmm . . .
Re: (Score:2)
Beat me to it.
Caught me napping, I guess.
The editors have to be trolling us (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm going to accept your more charitable view. Now I've got to go figure out why I put my cell phone in the freezer.
I'm going to accept your more charitable view. Now I'm going to go for a nap and then aimlessly wander the streets.
I think that's obvious (Score:2)
And when you're old you get stuck going for walks as physical therapy. It's not aimless, it's fark. or something.
dementia (Score:2)
reposting the same article within a few hours otoh could be a sign of late stage dementia
Someone at slashdot is napping. (Score:2)
Better see a doctor.
Correlation? (Score:2)
msmash is always good for a good laugh (Score:2)
She must be related to someone in HR?
Re: (Score:2)
Considering we've had dupes for 20 years, I'd say incompetence at this point. /s
Pretty much proves why Slashdot is failing (Score:1)
Its' own editors do not even read the site.
Sleep to cleanup brain matter debris (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
The need to nap or sleep may just be the body trying to clean up the brain impurities and debris.
It seems a lot more likely, my body shuts me down to sleep whenever I am sick or am doing heavy workouts regularly.
Processing trauma also seems to shut the body down so sleeping is probably symptomatic of anything that takes energy away from cognition.