Stress-related and sleep disorders linked to dementia risk
During follow-up from 2018 through 2023, dementia occurred in 6.8% of adults with both disorder types versus 2.3% with neither.
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Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Adults aged 40–90 in the All of Us Research Program were studied in a retrospective cohort analysis of 178,655 people without recorded dementia at the start. Researchers used repeated diagnosis codes in electronic health records to identify stress-related disorders, sleep disorders, both or neither. Stress-related disorders included anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Sleep disorders included insomnia and sleep apnea, which interrupts breathing during sleep.
Follow-up ran from January 1, 2018, until dementia, death or December 31, 2023. There were 5,298 new dementia cases. After adjustment, the hazard ratio—a comparison of dementia rates over time—was 2.42 for both disorder types, 1.97 for stress-related disorders alone and 1.35 for sleep disorders alone, each compared with neither.
Why it matters
The authors identified these common, treatable conditions as potentially modifiable targets for preventing dementia, a disease associated with aging.
Caveats
Other health differences between the groups, or early dementia-related changes affecting sleep and mental health, could have contributed to the association. The findings were reported in a conference abstract and did not test whether treating these disorders prevents dementia.
The paper
Tufts Univ Sch of Medicine; Harvard Med Sch-Mass General
AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 Abstract, Nov 2, 2026
Presented at AHA Scientific Sessions 2026, abstract 17009
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