Recent data (pdf) shows that nearly one-third of Americans have insomnia, and about one-third of those may be self-medicating to treat the condition. New research finds the price they pay for a good night’s sleep might be very high.
Sleep Aids Linked to an 80 Percent Increased Risk of Dementia
The study followed approximately 3,000 older white and black adults without dementia over an average duration of nine years, to find that white participants who frequently used sleep medications had a 79 percent increased risk of developing dementia compared to those who rarely used them.During the study, 20 percent of participants developed dementia, and researchers discovered that whites were three times as likely as blacks to take sleep medications often.
