the times | Friday March 18 2022 13
News
People who take more naps are more
likely to go on to suffer cognitive
decline, and people who suffer cognitive
decline are likely to nap more, a study
has found — describing the effect as a
“vicious cycle”.
Researchers have known for some
time that people who sleep more in the
day are more likely to get Alzheimer’s.
The question has been, though,
whether the extra sleep was preceding
the dementia or whether cognitive
decline was in some way leading to
extra naps.
The latest study, involving 1,
elderly volunteers, suggested that both
may be true. The work, published in
the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia,
followed people for more than a decade
so that changes in their nap frequency
could be recorded.
Once a year, for up to two weeks, the
participants, who were on average aged
81 at the start of the study, wore a watch
that recorded their frequency and
duration of naps. They also undertook
a series of cognitive tests. The study
Daytime naps give clue to dementia vicious circle
Tom Whipple Science Editor found that people who napped once or
more in a day had a 40 per cent higher
risk of getting Alzheimer’s. At the same
time, people who developed Alzheimer’s
saw their annual changes in nap
duration and frequency double.
Yue Leng, from the University of
California San Francisco, said that naps
could be an indicator that people
should see a GP.
“If you’re not naturally a napper and
you start napping frequently, or having
long naps, you should be cautious and
pay attention — that might be telling
you something,” she said.
One reason why naps might
accelerate cognitive decline is by
causing people to sleep less well at
night, when the brain may remove
toxic proteins. One reason why
Alzheimer’s could itself lead to more
naps is that the pathology of the
disease interferes with neurons that
control circadian rhythm. However,
the link in both directions is far from
proven.
“Comorbidities, depression and
other underlying health problems may
lead to more naps, and that may also
raise the risk of Alzheimer’s,” Yue said.
This means that naps could still simply
be a sign of other problems that them-
selves lead to dementia, rather than an
independent cause.
For now, Yue said that there was a lot
to understand, but the paper shows that
whatever the reason for the link, naps in
older people can be a robust sign that
something may be wrong.
Dr Susan Mitchell, head of policy at
Alzheimer’s Research UK, agreed, but
said that if people enjoyed a post-
prandial snooze they should not be
overly concerned. “Unusual sleep
patterns are common for people with
dementia but research suggests thatsleep changes could be apparent long
before any symptoms like memory loss
start to show,” she said.
“While this study goes further than
previous research looking at the impact
of daytime sleep and dementia risk, it
still cannot fully tease apart cause
and effect. Other studies have also
indicated a link between changes in
sleep quality but work looking at a
number of sleep-related factors, not
just napping, is needed to paint a
clearer picture about the link between
dementia and sleep throughout the
day. People tend to nap more as they
get older, and this isn’t necessarily a
sign of any problem.”6 Lithium could be used to prevent the
development of dementia, research
suggests. Scientists at Cambridge
University found that patients who take
the drug, often used as a mood stabiliser
for those with bipolar disorder, were less
at risk of Alzheimer’s and other forms of
dementia. An analysis of 30,000 NHS
patients aged above 50 found that 548
of them had been treated with lithium.
Of those, 9.7 per cent were diagnosed
with dementia, compared with 11.2 per
cent who had not taken lithium. The
findings were published in the journal
PLoS Medicine. The charity Alzheimer’s
Research UK is funding more work on
lithium at the University of Newcastle.patrick kiddTMS
[email protected] | @timesdiaryCold War was
a piece of cake
For 70 years, diplomatic difficulties
have been eased by tea with the
Queen. Strongmen go weak at the
rattle of Royal Doulton. It would
be asking too much now to invite a
war criminal round for crumpets
but the royal historian Robert
Hardman recalls how Cold War
tensions were soothed by asking
Khrushchev and Bulganin, the
Soviet president and premier, to
tea at Windsor and showing them
a portrait of Tsar Alexander I. “A
great patriot,” Khrushchev purred
before being shown into the red
drawing room, which must have
made him feel at home. Hardman
adds in The Spectator that the
Queen got a rapturous welcome in
St Petersburg in 1994, where the
quayside was renamed as the
English Embankment. The man in
charge of arrangements? A deputy
mayor called Vladimir Putin.Mother’s Day is nearing and what
better way to show your love than
by contributing to Nigel Farage’s
beer fund? “It is universally well
known that mums have a thing for
me,” brags the former Ukip leader,
who is offering to record a minute-
long video greeting for just £74.
And some people say the day has
become commercialised and naff...don’t panic
An unlikely winner of Strictly, Bill
Bailey now fancies tackling
Eurovision. The comedian tells
Out to Lunch that he submitted
a song that was rejected by the
BBC for being too silly. “It
was an eco-anthem with
a Dad’s Army theme
called Put That Light
Out, Mr Hodges,” he
says. Bailey is convinced
it would have won.
“You’d be surprised
how many people have
seen Dad’s Army in the
former Soviet states.”political animals
There is a vacancy for Commons
chief mouser after the death of Sir
Lindsay Hoyle’s 12-year-old ginger
cat, Patrick, named for the very
grand grandee Lord Cormack
rather than any scruffy diarists.
Patrick the cat, who occasionally
would fill Mr Speaker’s Zoom
screen in online meetings, won the
Westminster cat of the year
contest in 2020 on a manifesto of
impurrtiality, empawment and
stopping the fur from flying. Hoyle
still owns Boris the parrot, Maggie
the tortoise and two dogs called
Betty and Gordon. The constant
noise and bad behaviour must be
dreadful, but I suppose the pets
are used to Parliament by now.As Whitehall dusts off contingency
plans in the hope they won’t be
needed, I see mention in the press of
Pindar, the bunker under Whitehall.
It was given its name after the
Greek poet whose house was the
only one left standing after
Alexander the Great razed Thebes
in punishment for a rebellion in
335BC. Pindar marks its 30th
anniversary of becoming
operational this year. Let’s hope
celebrations don’t go with a bang.all in the preparation
Peter Bowles, who died yesterday
at 85, was in a daunting cohort at
Rada with Peter O’Toole, Alan
Bates and Albert Finney. He
shared a flat with the last and one
night they discussed their dream
roles. It turned out both aspired to
play Macbeth. Finney, below, asked
how Bowles would approach
the part and was told that
he would read Scottish
history, attempt an accent,
wear a kilt and study all
the greats who had done it
before. “How about you,
Albert?” Bowles asked.
“I’d learn the f***ing
lines and walk on,”
Finney replied. So that’s
why he was shortlisted
for an Oscar five times.ll