A study found that sleep medications increase the risk of dementia in white older adults who are not living in nursing homes. The type and amount of medication may also play a role in increasing the risk. The study followed approximately 3,000 older adults with an average age of 74 over a period of nine years, with 42% being black and 58% being white.
Do Sleep Medications Increase Your Chances of Dementia?
University of California, San Francisco-Led study shows benzos, antidepressants, and Ambien may impact cognition.
A new scientific study shows that sleep medications increase the risk of dementia in whites. But the type and quantity of the medication may be factors in explaining the higher risk.
It follows previous work that shows blacks have a higher likelihood than whites of developing DOI: 10.3233/JAD-221006
Senior author is Kristine Yaffe, MD, of the UCSF Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Neurology and Epidemiology. Co-author is Katie L. Stone, PhD, Department of Research Institute, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco.
Research was supported by the UCSF Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, funded by National Institute on Aging, P30 AG044281. Dr. Yue Leng is supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), R00 AG056598. Authors’ disclosures are available online.
