Bad sleep could shorten years of healthy brain function in older adults
A Health and Retirement Study analysis of about 20,700 Americans aged 65+ links severe sleep problems to shorter total life expectancy and fewer years of normal cognition, with men losing about 2.4 years and women about 1.5 years. The researchers use cognitive life expectancy and multistate life tables to estimate years in normal cognition, cognitive impairment, or dementia. Self-reported sleep data and the observational design are limitations, but the study suggests sleep is a modifiable factor to extend brain health; published in Research on Aging.