Alzheimer’s dementia and frequent daytime napping might be linked through a ‘vicious cycle’ as per a study at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.

The relationship between daytime napping and cognitive aging has remained controversial. However, the current study demonstrates a bidirectional link between the both. The study thereby suggests that excessive daytime napping may help predict an increased future risk of Alzheimer’s dementia.

“Daytime sleep behaviors of older adults are oftentimes ignored, and a consensus for daytime napping in clinical practice and health care is still lacking. Our results not only suggest that excessive daytime napping may signal an elevated risk of Alzheimer’s dementia, but they also show that faster yearly increase in daytime napping may be a sign of deteriorating or unfavored clinical progression of the disease. Our study calls for a closer attention to 24-hour sleep patterns — not only nighttime sleep but also daytime sleep — for health monitoring in older adults,” says Peng Li, PhD, of the Medical Biodynamics Program in the Brigham’s Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders.