The Helsinki Health Study at the University of Helsinki looked at the development of insomnia symptoms in middle age and their impact on memory, learning ability and concentration after retirement..

Long-term insomnia symptoms and subsequent cognitive decline are clearly linked, according to a 15-17 year study..

“The findings suggest that severe insomnia symptoms were associated with cognitive decline in those who were officially retired,” says doctoral student Antti Etolen, describing the results of the study..

The study also showed that memory problems, as well as problems with learning and concentration, increased as insomnia symptoms lingered..

Previous research has shown that there are a number of mechanisms that may explain how sleep can affect cognitive functioning.. What makes the recently published study exceptional is the long follow-up period for insomnia symptoms..

Among other things, the study showed that if insomnia symptoms improve over the years, then cognitive functions also improve in retirement compared to persistent problems.. According to the researchers, prolonged insomnia symptoms should be considered as risk factors for poor cognitive functioning..

“Based on our findings, early intervention to manage insomnia symptoms or measures to improve sleep quality would be warranted,” says Professor Tea Lallukka..

There are many ways to improve sleep quality, including regular sleep patterns, appropriate temperature and brightness of the sleeping environment, and optimal times for exercise, coffee, and meals.. However, Lallukka believes that intervention studies are still needed to clarify the effects of measures to support good sleep..

“In future studies, it would be interesting to shed additional light, for example, on whether treating insomnia can also slow the development of memory impairment,” Lallukka says..

She notes that only self-reported memory symptoms could be taken into account in the present study.. The study was published in the journal Aging and Health..

medical-heal. en.