Ledger DC Journal - News, Politics & Crime

Sleeping long hours may lead to dementia, a new study finds. While many adults can't seem to even get six, seven or even the sometimes suggested eight hours sleep a night, this study claims that those adults that sleep long nights of nine hours or more "may have a higher risk of developing dementia than those who spend fewer hours in bed," ABC News reports.

Health: Long Sleepers and Dementia Link?

How could something that feels so good - a long night's sleep - have negative consequences, muses Amy Norton of the Calgary Herald and many that are able to "sleep in" may be asking the same question.


More here on the health study. The article cites Dr. Julian Benito-Leon, of University Hospital '12 de Octubre' in Madrid, and she told Reuters Health, "It remains to be established how the relation between longer sleep duration and dementia is mediated."

All of the participants were checked for signs of dementia before entering the program. Reuters news notes in the report that, "The study findings, which appear in the European Journal of Neurology, are based on evaluations of 3,286 adults age 65 and older."

*Update - Article updated, titled changed for clarity. -Ed.