Connect with us

News

Excessive napping could be a sign of dementia, study finds

Published

on

Excessive napping could be a sign of dementia, study finds

Aged adults who napped at the least as soon as a day or greater than an hour a day have been 40% extra more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those that didn’t nap each day or napped lower than an hour a day, in response to the research printed Thursday in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Affiliation.

“We discovered the affiliation between extreme daytime napping and dementia remained after adjusting for nighttime amount and high quality of sleep,” mentioned co-senior creator Dr. Yue Leng, an assistant professor of psychiatry on the College of California, San Francisco, in a press release.

The outcomes echo the findings of a earlier research by Leng that discovered napping two hours a day raised the danger of cognitive impairment in contrast with napping lower than half-hour a day.

The brand new research used knowledge gathered over 14 years by the Rush Reminiscence and Growing older Challenge, which adopted over 1,400 folks between the ages of 74 and 88 (with a mean age of 81).

“I feel the general public is not conscious that Alzheimer’s is a mind illness that oftentimes causes adjustments in temper and sleep habits,” mentioned Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic within the Heart for Mind Well being at Florida Atlantic College’s Schmidt Faculty of Drugs.

“Extreme napping could also be one of many many clues that an individual may very well be on the highway to cognitive decline, and set off an in-person analysis with a treating doctor,” mentioned Isaacson, who was not concerned within the research.

Advertisement

Elevated want for naps

Sleep high quality and amount does decline with age, typically as a result of ache or issues from power circumstances similar to extra frequent lavatory breaks. Thus, aged folks do are inclined to take naps extra typically than they did after they have been youthful.

However daytime napping may also be a sign of mind adjustments which can be “impartial of nighttime sleep,” Leng mentioned. She referenced prior analysis that means the event of tau tangles, a trademark signal of Alzheimer’s, could also be affecting wake-promoting neurons in key areas of the mind, thus disrupting sleep.

For 14 days annually, members within the present research wore a tracker that captured knowledge on their actions; No motion for an prolonged interval between the hours of 9 a.m. and seven p.m. was interpreted as a nap.

Whereas it is attainable that folks might have been studying or watching TV, “we now have developed a novel algorithm to outline naps and to distinguish naps from no exercise. We did not outline a particular size for ‘prolonged nap’ however we have been extra targeted on the gathered nap minutes per day and the change within the size of naps through the years,” Leng advised CNN through e mail.

“Additional research are warranted with gadgets which can be validated to detect sleep versus sedentary habits,” Isaacson mentioned. “However on the identical time, being sedentary and never shifting for lengthy intervals of time Is a identified threat issue for cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s.

“Whatever the purpose, falling asleep in the course of the day or extreme napping raises my antenna to give attention to whether or not the individual could also be at increased threat for Alzheimer’s illness or cognitive decline,” he mentioned.

Advertisement

Over the 14 years, the research discovered each day daytime napping elevated by a mean 11 minutes per yr for adults who didn’t develop cognitive impairment. Nevertheless, a analysis of delicate cognitive impairment doubled nap time to a complete of 24 minutes a day. Individuals who have been identified with Alzheimer’s almost tripled their nap time, to a mean of 68 minutes a day.

Just one drink per day can shrink your brain, study says

The “drastic improve” in napping size and frequency through the years appears to be a very essential sign, Leng mentioned.

“I do not assume we now have sufficient proof to attract conclusions a few causal relationship, that it is the napping itself that brought on cognitive getting old, however extreme daytime napping could be a sign of accelerated getting old or cognitive getting old course of,” she mentioned.

What to do?

Ideally, adults ought to restrict any daytime naps to fifteen to twenty minutes earlier than 3 p.m. to attain probably the most restorative advantages from napping and preserve from harming nighttime sleep, Leng mentioned.

Long life comes from eating right, studies say. Here's how to begin

As well as, older adults and caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s illness ought to pay elevated consideration to daytime napping behaviors, and be alert to indicators of extreme or elevated numbers of naps, she mentioned.

Any important improve in napping habits ought to be mentioned with a physician, Isaacson mentioned.

Advertisement

“I feel it is by no means too late for somebody to have the ability to make a brain-healthy life-style change or pay extra consideration to their mind well being,” Isaacson mentioned. “Making sleep a precedence, listening to sleep high quality and speaking to your physician about sleep: These are all essential issues.”

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

News

Revolutionary Guard commanders vow response to Israel attack on Iran

Published

on

Revolutionary Guard commanders vow response to Israel attack on Iran

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

The top commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards issued a stark warning to Israel on Thursday, vowing that Tehran would deliver a harsh response to last week’s Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.

Major General Hossein Salami, the head of the guards corps, warned in a speech that Iran’s retaliation would be “unimaginable” as Iranian officials stepped up their rhetoric against Israel.

“Israelis think they can launch a couple of missiles and change history,” he said. “You have not forgotten . . . how Iranian missiles opened up the sky . . . and made you sleepless.”

Advertisement

Separately his deputy, Brigadier General Ali Fadavi, told Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese television channel close to Iran, that a response would be “inevitable”. In more than 40 years, “we have not left any aggression without a response”, he said.

The belligerent comments came as the Islamic regime weighs its options following Israel’s attack on Saturday, during which Israeli war planes launched three waves of strikes at Iranian military installations. The targets included missile factories and air defence systems in three provinces, including Tehran.

Regime insiders told the Financial Times that the options being considered include a possible strike before next week’s US presidential election, or Iran’s leaders could decide to hold off for now.

“The winner of the US election could take an Iranian attack personally and act against Iran. So, if Iran wants to respond to Israel, the best time is before the US election,” one insider said. “The only thing that could change this would be a fair breakthrough in ceasefire talks between [Hizbollah in] Lebanon and Israel which does not seem very likely.”

The US has this week stepped up efforts to broker a deal to end the conflict that has lasted more than a year between Israel and Hizbollah, Iran’s most important proxy.

Advertisement

But there was little optimism of a breakthrough as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Israel retain the right to unilaterally enforce any agreement that would lead to Hizbollah withdrawing from southern Lebanon.

Another Iranian insider indicated Tehran might opt to maintain psychological pressure on Israel rather than launch a direct assault.

“With Hizbollah launching tens of rockets into Israel daily in a legitimate war, a direct response may not be necessary right now,” the insider said. “What benefits us is not a direct war with Israel. We need to keep the level of people’s stress low so that they can live their lives. This is the top priority.”

But an Iranian analyst said the dilemma for Tehran was “that Israel would take any delay in Iran’s response as a sign of weakness and would feel emboldened”.

Iran’s initial reaction to Israel’s strikes — which were in retaliation for an Iranian missile barrage fired at the Jewish state on October 1 — suggested that Tehran’s response would be measured and not immediate, Iranian analysts said.

Advertisement

Speaking on Sunday, a day after Israel’s attack, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader and ultimate decision maker, refrained from vowing to retaliate.

Instead, he said the strikes should neither be “overestimated or underestimated”. Iranian state media played down the impact of the attack, which killed four soldiers and a civilian, saying the damage was limited.

But Tehran has shown a willingness to risk an escalation with Israel as regional hostilities triggered by Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack have spread across the Middle East, thrusting Iran’s years-long shadow war with its regional enemy into the open.

In April, it fired more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel in a clearly telegraphed retaliation for an Israeli strike on the republic’s embassy compound in Syria, which killed several senior guards commanders.

It gave little notice before launching 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1, a more severe attack that was in response to the Israeli assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbollah’s leader and a close confidant of Khamenei.

Advertisement

“Only a shock can stop Israel from its aggressions and free the region from the current stalemate,” the first regime insider said. “Iran might even go for a big bang and do something totally outside Israelis’ calculations as there is no other way to stop it.”

The US, which has pledged an “ironclad” commitment to the defence of Israel, has warned Iran not to retaliate as western nations have sought to contain the crisis amid heightened fears of all-out war.

“We will not hesitate to act in self defence. Let there be no confusion. The United States does not want to see further escalation,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, said this week.

Continue Reading

News

Harris says Trump 'devalues' women's ability to make their own choices

Published

on

Harris says Trump 'devalues' women's ability to make their own choices

PHOENIX — Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday that former President Donald Trump’s remarks this week about protecting women whether they “like it or not” is another sign of how he “devalues” women.

“His latest comment is just the most recent in a series of examples that we have seen from him in his words and deeds about how he devalues the ability of women to have the choice and the freedom to make decisions about their own body,” Harris told NBC News in an exclusive interview.

The vice president also argued that most Americans “believe that women are intelligent enough and should have and be respected for their agency to make decisions for themselves about what is in their best interest,” rather than the government or Trump “telling them what to do.”

The Trump campaign did not immediately provide a comment on Harris’ remarks.

Follow live updates on the 2024 election

Advertisement

Trump on Wednesday said that his “people” had instructed him not to say that he wanted to “protect the women.”

“I said, ‘Well, I’m going to do it, whether the women like it or not.’ I’m going to protect them,” Trump said during his rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press NOW,” Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt was asked if she can see how Trump’s comments about doing something “whether the women like it or not” might make women uncomfortable.

“No, I can’t. Because if you look at the full context of President Trump’s remarks, he brought this up in the context of illegal immigration and protecting women from the illegal immigrant criminals,” Leavitt said Thursday.

Harris on Thursday also talked about President Joe Biden’s “garbage” remark from earlier this week, in which he appeared to criticize either Trump supporters or a comedian who delivered racist jokes at Trump’s rally in New York, and reiterated her view that “we should never criticize people based on who they vote for.”

Advertisement

In addressing Biden’s comments, Harris pointed to Trump’s rhetoric about “the enemy from within” and comparing the U.S. to a “garbage can.”

“He does not understand that most people are exhausted with his rhetoric, exhausted with that approach, exhausted with an approach that Donald Trump has that’s trying to divide our country and have Americans point fingers at each other,” she said. “They’re done with it, and they’re ready to turn the page.”

Harris’ comments came before her rally in Phoenix. Her next campaign stops on Thursday are in Nevada, where she will hold rallies in Reno and Las Vegas.

The Sun Belt blitz comes as polling indicates a neck-and-neck presidential race less than a week before Election Day.

When asked by NBC News what Harris thinks her late mother would say to her in the final days before the election, Harris smiled.

Advertisement

“‘Just go beat him,’” she said, laughing. “That’s probably what she’d say. Yeah, that’s my mother.”

Yamiche Alcindor reported from Phoenix, and Megan Lebowitz from Washington, D.C.

Continue Reading

News

Election 2024 Polls: Senate Races

Published

on

Election 2024 Polls: Senate Races

About our polling averages

Our averages include polls collected by The New York Times and by FiveThirtyEight. The estimates adjust for a variety of factors, including the recency and sample size of a poll, whether a poll represents likely voters, and whether other polls have shifted since a poll was conducted.

We also evaluate whether each pollster: Has a track record of accuracy in recent electionsIs a member of a professional polling organizationConducts probability-based sampling

These elements factor into how much weight each poll gets in the average. And we consider pollsters that meet at least two of the three criteria to be “select pollsters,” so long as they are conducting polls for nonpartisan sponsors. Read more about our methodology.

The Times conducts its own national and state polls in partnership with Siena College. Those polls are included in the averages. Follow Times/Siena polling here.

Advertisement

Maine and Nebraska award two electoral votes to the statewide winner and a single electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. (Maine has two congressional districts, and Nebraska has three.) Historical election results for these districts are calculated based on votes cast within the current boundaries of the district.

Sources: Polling averages by The New York Times. Individual polls collected by FiveThirtyEight and The Times.

Continue Reading

Trending