Sleep disturbances are a wake-up call for dementia. In particular, the risk is increased in people who have REM sleep phases, those in which dreams are made, very short. This is indicated by a study published in Neurology by a group of Australian researchers who monitored 12 people with an average age of 321 for 67 years. During the experimentation, the sleep cycles of each volunteer were measured. By the end of the research, 32 people had been diagnosed with dementia and 24 with Alzheimer's. According to the data, people with this type of diagnosis had enjoyed 17% less time in REM sleep than other volunteers. Furthermore, by the researchers' calculations, a 1% reduction in REM sleep (or paradoxical sleep) increases the chance of suffering from dementia by 9%. However, no problem in people whose sleep is disturbed in the other phases (falling asleep, light, deep and very deep sleep) that alternate with the REM phase.
