Nearly one-third of Americans have insomnia, according to a recent survey, and most of them are likely to treat the condition with self-medication. However, a 2023 study found that people who regularly use sleeping pills have an almost 80 percent increased risk of dementia compared to those who rarely use them.
The study followed approximately 3,000 older whites and blacks without dementia for an average of nine years. It found that white participants who used sleeping pills regularly had a 79 percent increased risk of developing dementia compared to those who rarely used them.
