Dementia: Changing our sleep patterns can increase risk of developing dementia, study finds

The amount of sleep we get each night could be linked to how likely we are to get dementia.

During the cold winter months, many of us end up spending a little bit more time in bed. However, new research suggests that switching up our regular sleep patterns makes us more likely to develop dementia later in life.

The research, conducted by Monash University in Australia and published in the journal Neurology, found that irregular sleep patterns incease the likelihood of dementia by 53 per cent. More than 88,000 people from the UK were included in the study, over the course of around seven years.

Study author, Professor Matthew Paul Pase, said: "Sleep health recommendations often focus on getting the recommended amount of sleep, which is seven to nine hours a night, but there is less emphasis on maintaining regular sleep schedules. Our findings suggest the regularity of a person’s sleep is an important factor when considering a person’s risk of dementia.

"Effective sleep health education combined with behavioural therapies can improve irregular sleep patterns. Based on our findings, people with irregular sleep may only need to improve their sleep regularity to average levels, compared to very high levels, to prevent dementia."