Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
The optimum amount of sleep is not too little but not too much -- at least in middle and old age.
New research has found that around seven hours of sleep is the ideal night's rest, with insufficient and excessive sleep associated with a reduced ability to pay attention, remember and learn new things, solve problems and make decisions.
Seven hours of slumber was also found to be linked with better mental health, with people experiencing more symptoms of anxiety and depression and worse overall well-being if they reported sleeping for longer or shorter stints.
"While we can't say conclusively that too little or too much sleep causes cognitive problems, our analysis looking at individuals over a longer period of time appears to support this idea,"Jianfeng Feng, a professor at China's Fudan University and an author of the study published in the scientific journal Nature Aging, said in a statement.
"But the reasons why older people have poorer sleep appear to be complex, influenced by a combination of our genetic makeup and the structure of our brains."
Researchers from China and the United Kingdom analyzed data from almost 500,000 adults ages 38 to 73 who were part of the UK Biobank -- a long-term, government-backed health study. Participants were asked about their sleep patterns, mental health and well-being, and took part in a series of cognitive tests. Brain imaging and genetic data were available for almost 40,000 of the study participants.
Other research has found that older adults who have significant difficulty falling asleep and who experience frequent night awakenings are at high risk for developing dementia or dying early from any cause, while sleeping fewer than six hours a night has been linked to cardiovascular disease.
One reason for the link between too little sleep and cognitive decline could be because of disruption of deep sleep, which is when the brain repairs the body from the day's wear and tear and consolidates memories. Too little sleep is also associated with the buildup of amyloid, a key protein that can cause tangles in the brain that characterize some form of dementia. The study also said it's possible a prolonged sleep duration stems from poor quality, fragmented sleep.
Dr. Raj Dasgupta, spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and assistant professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, said that longer sleep durations had been associated with cognitive problems but it wasn't entirely clear why.
"This sets a mark for future research and the search for treatment," said Dasgupta, who wasn't involved in the research. "Sleep is essential as we get older, and we need just as much as younger people, but it's harder to come by."
The study had some limitations -- it only assessed how long the participants slept in total and not any other measure of sleep quality such as waking during the night. What's more, participants reported their amount of sleep so it was not objectively measured. However, the authors said the large number of people involved in the study meant its conclusions were likely robust.
The authors said their findings suggested it was important that sleep, ideally of around seven hours, should be consistent.
The study showed a link between too much and too little sleep and cognitive problems, not cause and effect, cautioned Russell Foster, a professor at the University of Oxford and director of the Sir Jules Thorn Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, who wasn't involved in the research. He said that the study had not taken individuals' health status into consideration and that short or long sleep may be an indication of underlying health conditions with cognitive issues.
He also said that taking the average of seven hours as the ideal amount of sleep "ignores the fact that there is considerable individual variation in sleep duration" and quality. Less or more sleep may be perfectly healthy for some individuals, he said.
"We are regularly told that the 'ideal' night of sleep in the aged should be seven hours of uninterrupted slumber. This belief is wrong in so many ways. Sleep is like shoe size; one size does not fit all, and by classifying 'good sleep' in this way can cause confusion and anxiety for many," said Foster, author of the upcoming book "Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock, and How It Can Revolutionize Your Sleep and Health."
"How long we sleep, our preferred sleep times and how many times we wake during the night varies hugely between individuals and as we age. Sleep is dynamic, and we all have different sleep patterns, and the key thing is to assess what our individual needs are."
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.