Study Links Irregular Sleep Patterns To 172 Diseases Globally

Recent scientific advances have improved understanding of brain aging and sleep patterns, both critical to cognitive health and dementia risk. A new MRI-based tool called DunedinPACNI, developed by researchers from Duke, Harvard, and New Zealand’s University of Otago, reads the brain's 'hidden ageing clock' by leveraging longitudinal data from the Dunedin Study, which tracks individuals from birth to assess health over decades. Irregular and inconsistent sleep has been linked to impaired cognitive functions and a higher risk of numerous diseases; a large-scale Chinese study using objective accelerometer data found disrupted and fragmented sleep rhythms are associated with 172 diseases, challenging earlier findings that long sleep duration alone is harmful. Dementia, affecting over 55 million people globally, often disrupts sleep patterns due to damage to the brain’s internal clock and melatonin production, with symptoms worsening if sleep issues remain untreated. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common dementia type, and others like vascular and Lewy body dementia, show varied cognitive and behavioral symptoms, including sleep disturbances, which may manifest as difficulty sleeping at night and excessive daytime sleepiness. Experts emphasize the importance of maintaining regular sleep schedules and physical, mental, and social engagement to mitigate cognitive decline and enhance quality of life for those at risk or living with dementia.