A new study suggests that lack of sleep or poor sleep quality in teens may significantly increase the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) in adults.
In a large case-control study, adolescents who slept less than seven hours on average were 40% more likely to develop multiple sclerosis later in life. Those who rated their sleep quality as poor were at even higher risk.
On the other hand, those who slept longer during their teenage years were significantly less likely to develop MS, suggesting a possible protective effect.
Dr. Torbjörn Åkerstedt
Sleep duration is associated with risk of mortality and other diseases, but sleep quality usually has little or no effect on risk, says principal investigator Dr. Torbjörn Åkerstedt, sleep researcher and professor of psychology. , Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden , said Medscape medical news.
“I wasn’t really expecting it, but those results were very strong, even stronger than sleep time.
We don’t really know why this is happening at such a young age, but the best explanation is that your brain is still quite developed and you’re blocking it.
The survey results were published online on January 23rd. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
strong association
Other studies have linked sleep deprivation to increased risk of serious illness, but the link between sleep and multiple sclerosis risk has not been well studied.
A previous study by Åkerstedt showed that the risk of MS was higher in individuals who participated in shift work before the age of 20. However, the effects of sleep duration or sleep quality in teens were not known.
The current Swedish population-based case-control study included 2075 MS patients and 3164 MS patients. All participants were asked to recall her average nightly sleep duration from age 15 to her age 19 and to rate the quality of sleep during that time.
Results showed that teens who slept less than 7 hours a night were 40% more likely to develop MS in adulthood (odds ratio). [OR]1.4; 95% CI, 1.1–1.7).
Poor sleep quality further increased MS risk (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.3 – 1.9).
This association remained strong even after adjusting for additional sleep on weekends and breaks and excluding shift workers.
Long sleep “looks good”
The researchers also conducted several sensitivity studies to rule out confounding factors that could bias the association, such as excluding participants who reported currently experiencing poor or poor sleep. Did.
“People who suffer from sleep disorders today are thought to be those who reported sleep disorders when they were younger, but this was not the case.
Investigators also entered data on sleep duration and sleep quality at the same time, believing that the data would cancel each other out. But the association remained.
“In disease prediction, sleep duration often excludes the effects of sleep disturbances, but here it remains important when both are entered at the same time,” Åkerstedt said. I feel that may mean working together to produce results,” he added.
“Another surprise was that longer sleep was clearly a good thing,” says Åkerstedt.
Investigators conducted several studies on sleep duration and mortality. In a recent study, they found that both short and long sleep predicted mortality.
Underestimation problem?
Comments on survey results Medscape Medical News, Dr. Kathleen Zakowski, research vice president of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in Baltimore, Maryland, noted that participants were asked to rate their own sleep quality during adolescence. MS risk.
“Their findings on sleep quality indicate that there is probably a bigger problem, because people either overestimate or underestimate the quality of their sleep. because I don’t know
“If we could look at that sleep quality issue a little more objectively, we would know a lot more,” she said.
Åkerstedt is the story researchers want to explore. By designing a prospective study to follow adolescent sleep habits more closely and follow individuals through adulthood, we hope to explore how sleep quality and duration affect immune system development and multiple sclerosis risk. It may provide valuable information about what to do.
Dr. Zackowski said clinicians know that multiple sclerosis is not caused solely by genetic abnormalities, and that other environmental lifestyle factors appear to be involved.
“If sleep is found to be one of the lifestyle factors, this is highly variable.
This research was funded by the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Research Council for Health, Work Life and Well-Being, the Swedish Brain Foundation, AFA Insurance, the European Aviation Safety Authority, the Swedish Bank’s 300th Anniversary Fund, and the Margaretha af Ugglas Foundation. it was done. , The Swedish Foundation for MS Research, and NEURO Sweden. Akerstadt is backed by the Swedish Bank’s Tercentenary Fund, AFA Insurance and the European Aviation Safety Authority. Zackowski has not reported any related financial relationships.
J Neurology Neurosurgery PsychiatryPublished online January 23, 2023.full text
Kelli Whitlock Burton is a Medscape Medical News reporter covering neurology and psychiatry.
For more Medscape Neurology news, join us on Facebook. twitter.
