Sleep Medication Linked to Dementia

Still, Leng hopes the findings will give doctors pause when they pull out their prescription pad. “People don't really consider the long-term effects of these medications,” she says. “We want clinicians to be more cautious about prescribing them."

Boost Your Brain Health With Staying Sharp

Similar research from Utah State University in Logan examined the link between the long-term use of sleeping pills and the development of Alzheimer's disease among a group of 3,656 adults, ages 65 and older.

"There's been a lot of research that's looked at the association between sleep disturbances and risk for developing Alzheimer's disease,” says study author Elizabeth Vernon, a Utah State doctoral student. “We were looking at whether these sleeping aids may also contribute to the risk."

The results varied by gender and other factors. Men in the group who used sleeping agents were 3.6 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.

Women's risk for the disease depended on whether they reported having a history of insomnia. When women reported they had such a problem, which was technically explained as “sleep disturbance,” taking a sleeping medication was associated with a 35 percent reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease. But Alzheimer's risk was nearly four times higher among women who didn't report having a sleep disturbance and who took sleep medication to, say, counter sleep loss associated with something like chronic pain.

These differences may stem from underlying health challenges and/or the type of sleeping aid used. Differences between the genders may also be attributable to hormonal differences or variations in the sleep patterns of men and women. “Females spend more time in slow-wave sleep, and males tend to spend more time in earlier sleep stages,” Vernon says.

Investigators aren't sure what to make of all the findings in this study but see it as a fodder for future research. Meanwhile, Vernon urges caution with any assumptions that sleep aids might help women preserve cognitive function. While it's interesting to hypothesize that, for women, the benefits of fighting slow-wave-wrecking insomnia with sleep drugs trumps their negative effects, researchers say such assumptions are premature and potentially hazardous to older women.

"Some of these medications can increase the risk of falls and confusion and memory lapses as a side effect,” Vernon says. “Consequently, it may be best to use alternative interventions, such as cognitive behavioral therapy or sleep hygiene techniques as a first line of defense to address the sleeping issue."