Sleeping Pills May Create Greater Risk of Dementia for White People, Study Says
Sleeping woman
InternationalIndiaAfricaWhite participants of the new study who took sleeping meds often exhibited a greater risk of developing dementia than those who did not use such medication. At the same time, the use of sleeping pills apparently did not affect Black participants in the same way.A new study conducted by researchers from the University of California has suggested that the use of sleeping meds may translate into an increased risk of dementia for White people.The research in question involved some 3,068 “community-dwelling” older adult participants over 74 years of age who were not suffering from dementia at the onset of the study and who were “followed over an average duration of nine years,” according to a press release issued by the university.The authors of the new draft paper published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease allege that 20 percent of participants developed dementia, with the White participants who were taking sleep medication “often” or “almost always” displaying a 79 percent higher chance to develop that affliction than those who rarely used sleeping pills or did not use them at all.
Science & TechStress at Middle Age Raises Risk of Dementia Later in Life for Men, Study Claims13 January, 17:24 GMTAt the same time, the use of sleeping medications apparently did not affect the likelihood of the Black participants.First author of the study Yue Leng, Ph.D, from the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, mused that these differences may be related to the “socioeconomic status” of the participants.“Black participants who have access to sleep medications might be a select group with high socioeconomic status and, thus, greater cognitive reserve, making them less susceptible to dementia,” he said as quoted in the press release. “It’s also possible that some sleep medications were associated with a higher risk of dementia than others.”The researchers also discovered that White participants were three times as likely to take sleeping pills than Black participants.
