The Right Amount Of Sleep – And Reading – Can Fend Off Dementia

Cognitive impairment among the world’s aging population is already a serious problem, and is expected to get worse: 100 million cases by 2050, up from 36.5 million now.  In a study of 245 people over 65 that looked beyond genetic factors to lifestyles (e.g., exercise, intellectual stimulation, etc.) associated with cognitive impairment, researchers in Spain found that sleeping fewer than six hours, or more than eight hours, nearly triples the risk of cognitive impairment. Chronic insomnia and daytime sleepiness are therefore risk factors associated with dementia. Likewise, seniors who do not read at all are 3.7 times more likely to suffer from cognitive impairment, while those who read only occasionally are 2.5 times more likely.