Do you feel tired all the time? You suffer from daytime sleepiness excessive (“wanting to sleep” during the day), you lack sleep, you never feel completely rested? Warning: according to a new study conducted by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (in the United States), fatigue and drowsiness could cause certain parts of the brain to atrophy …
This work was carried out in collaboration with 1,374 American volunteers, men and women over the age of 50. These all suffered from recurrent fatigue and excessive daytime sleepiness, to varying degrees of severity. After answering questionnaires about their lifestyle, participants underwent an MRI scan of their brains and took cognitive tests.
Lack of sleep, a poison for the body
Verdict: The volunteers who had the highest levels of fatigue and daytime sleepiness were also those who had the lowest scores on cognitive tests (spatio-temporal identification, short and long term memory …).
“In these people, we observed atrophy of certain areas of the brain, which corresponds to a premature aging of the brain“, explains Diego Z. Carvalho, main author of these works published in the scientific journal Sleep. “Participants who suffered from recurrent fatigue and excessive daytime sleepiness were therefore at greater risk than others of developing Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, the risk of premature death was also higher. “
In France, the National Institute for Sleep and Vigilance (INSV) recommends sleeping at least 7 hours per night. However, 1 in 3 active people do not get enough sleep and experience episodes of drowsiness during the day. Lack of sleep increases the risk of obesity by 30% and the risk of heart attack by 48%, increases the risk of hypertension by 3 and the risk of having a stroke by 4. Go hop, to bed!
Read: What Lack of Sleep is Doing to Your Body (infographic).