Scientists uncover concerning connection between frequent nightmares and health issues

Whether you can fall asleep anywhere or struggle to sleep through the night, rest is crucial for our health.

It’s widely accepted that we need about seven to nine hours of sleep nightly, and lacking sufficient rest can be detrimental to our wellbeing.

On average, people spend a third of their lives sleeping, yet some still find themselves waking up abruptly at 3am without clear cause.

About six years of our sleep is dedicated to dreaming.

Though the exact mechanisms and reasons for dreaming remain uncertain, a study has indicated that nightmares could be associated with a common brain condition.

Abidemi Otaiku, an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurology at the University of Birmingham, has shared intriguing insights from his 2022 research.

Appearing in The Lancet’s eClinicalMedicine journal, the study revealed that frequently experiencing ‘bad dreams and nightmares’ that disrupt sleep during middle age or later life might be linked to a heightened risk of dementia.

Dementia refers to various diseases that impair memory, cognitive functions, and daily activities.

The research analyzed three extensive US health and aging studies involving thousands of participants, tracked over periods ranging from five to nine years based on age.

Otaiku scrutinized the information to determine if “participants with a higher frequency of nightmares at the outset of the study were more likely to undergo cognitive decline and receive a dementia diagnosis.”

Findings indicated that middle-aged individuals experiencing weekly nightmares were four times more likely to face cognitive decline, which can lead to dementia.

For older individuals, the likelihood of receiving a dementia diagnosis was doubled.

The link between nightmares and the potential for dementia was notably stronger in men than in women. Older men experiencing weekly nightmares were five times more likely to develop dementia compared to those without nightmares.

In contrast, the risk increase for women was merely 41 percent.

Otaiku stated: “Overall, these results suggest frequent nightmares may be one of the earliest signs of dementia, which can precede the development of memory and thinking problems by several years or even decades – especially in men.

“Alternatively, it is also possible that having regular bad dreams and nightmares might even be a cause of dementia.

“Given the nature of this study, it is not possible to be certain which of these theories is correct (though I suspect it is the former).”

It’s yet another concern that might keep you up at night…