Tag: sleep disruption

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and Conditions Mental HealthTags :

Dengue Linked to Heightened Short- and Long-term Risk of Depression in Taiwan

On By ModernMedia

New study also uncovers short-term links with sleep disorders

Photo by Ekamelev on Unsplash

Analysis of the medical records of nearly 50 000 people who experienced dengue fever in Taiwan suggests that this disease is associated with elevated short- and long-term risk of depression. Hsin-I Shih and colleagues of National Cheng Kung University and National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

People may develop dengue fever after being bitten by a mosquito carrying the dengue virus. Dengue fever can be mild, but it can also progress to life-threatening severity, and some people may have long-term health effects. Prior research has uncovered links between active dengue fever and psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety. However, few studies have examined the long-term risk of such disorders after a dengue infection.

To address this knowledge gap, Shih and colleagues analysed the medical records of 45 334 dengue patients in Taiwan and, for comparison, 226 670 patients who did not experience dengue. Covering the years 2002 to 2015, the researchers examined whether dengue patients were more likely to develop anxiety, depressive disorders, and sleep disorders at various time points after infection. To help account for other factors that could influence mental health, the dengue patients were grouped with demographically similar non-dengue patients for statistical analysis.

The researchers found that the dengue patients had a greater likelihood of developing a depressive order across all timeframes, including less than three months, three to 12 months, and more than 12 months after their infection. Sleep disorders were only elevated within three to 12 months post-infection, and there was no observable elevated risk of anxiety.

Taking a closer look at patients whose dengue was severe enough for them to be hospitalized, the researchers found an elevated risk of anxiety disorders within the first three months of infection, as well as elevated risk of sleep disorders in the first 12 months. This subgroup also had elevated risk of depression across timeframes.

These findings suggest a potential link between dengue fever and subsequent depressive disorder. However, further research is needed to determine whether dengue contributes directly to development of depression, or if the association is due to some indirect mechanism.

The authors add: “This study highlights a significant association between dengue fever and an elevated risk of depression in both the short and long term, underscoring the need for further research into the mental health impacts of dengue infection.”

Provided by PLOS

Categories : NeurologyTags :

Poor Sleep Quality in Midlife Linked to Cognitive Problems Later on

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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

People who have more disrupted sleep in their 30s and 40s may be more likely to have memory and thinking problems a decade later, according to new research published in Neurology. The study does not however prove that sleep quality causes cognitive decline, it only shows an association.

“Given that signs of Alzheimer’s disease start to accumulate in the brain several decades before symptoms begin, understanding the connection between sleep and cognition earlier in life is critical for understanding the role of sleep problems as a risk factor for the disease,” said study author Yue Leng, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco.

“Our findings indicate that the quality rather than the quantity of sleep matters most for cognitive health in middle age.”

The study involved 526 people, average age of 40, who were followed for 11 years. Researchers looked at participants’ sleep duration and quality, and had them perform cognitive tests.

Participants wore a wrist activity monitor for three consecutive days on two occasions approximately one year apart to calculate their averages. Participants slept for an average of six hours.

Participants also reported bedtimes and wake times in a sleep diary and completed a sleep quality survey with scores ranging from zero to 21, with higher scores indicating poorer sleep quality. A total of 239 people, or 46%, reported poor sleep with a score greater than five. Participants also completed a series of memory and thinking tests.

Researchers also looked at sleep fragmentation, which measures repetitive short interruptions of sleep. They looked at both the percentage of time spent moving and the percentage of time spent not moving for one minute or less during sleep. Added together, participants had an average sleep fragmentation of 19%.

Researchers then divided participants into three groups based on their sleep fragmentation score. Of the 175 people with the most disrupted sleep, 44 had poor cognitive performance 10 years later, compared to 10 of the 176 people with the least disrupted sleep.

After adjusting for age, gender, race, and education, people who had the most disrupted sleep had more than twice the odds of having poor cognitive performance when compared to those with the least disrupted sleep.

There was no difference in cognitive performance at midlife for those in the middle group compared to the group with the least disrupted sleep.

“More research is needed to assess the link between sleep disturbances and cognition at different stages of life and to identify if critical life periods exist when sleep is more strongly associated with cognition,” Leng said.

“Future studies could open up new opportunities for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease later in life.”

The amount of time people slept and their own reports of the quality of their sleep were not associated with cognition in middle age.

Source: American Academy of Neurology