Here's One Important Reason Why Your Bedroom Should Be Conducive to Quality Sleep

We've highlighted time and again the importance of getting enough sleep at night, and one way to do that is by creating a private space where your body can easily relax and unwind. We've tested a few mattresses that you can consider getting, listed pillows that can give you the support that you need, as well as offered a few feng shui tips to invite good energy into your bedroom. Sleep, after all, aids in repairing and restoring your body, and based on a new study, it also seems to keep dementia at bay. Not getting enough of it is said to have serious repercussions. 

This study, which was published in the journal Nature Communications, followed 7959 participants for 25 years, and suggested that those who got six hours of sleep (or less) in their 50s, 60s, and 70s were at a higher risk of developing the syndrome. 30 percent higher, to be exact.

What is dementia?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dementia is a syndrome that affects cognitive function "beyond what might be expected from normal aging. It affects memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language, and judgement."

The researchers took into account "sociodemographic, behavioral, cardiometabolic, and mental health factors." To give you an idea, sociodemographic factors include: "age, sex, ethnicity (white and non-white), education (lower primary school or less, lower secondary school, higher secondary school diploma, and university), and marital status (married or cohabiting, and other)." They also looked at behavioral factors like history of smoking, drinking, weight, amount of physical activity, and diet.

To be clear, they found a correlation between between sleep and the risk of dementia, but this doesn't mean that poor sleeping habits causes cognitive decline later in life.

Pamela Lutsey, an associate professor of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota, told The New York Times, "The study found a modest, but I would say somewhat important association of short sleep and dementia risk. Short sleep is very common and because of that, even if it’s modestly associated with dementia risk, it can be important at a societal level. Short sleep is something that we have control over, something that you can change." It's important to note that Lutsey was not part of the study.

Other experts are wary of the findings because it relied on self-reporting, which isn't always accurate.

Whatever your opinon on the study is, it's important to regularly have good quality sleep. Clock in a regular schedule of seven to eight hours a night. Your body deserves it.

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Have you recently spruced up your room or renovated your home? We'd definitely love to see the result! Send clear photos (with your full name, city address, and accompanying kuwento) to [email protected] with the subject "DIY Makeover" and we may just feature your DIY project!

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This story originally appeared on Cosmo.ph.

* Minor edits have been made by the Realliving.com.ph editors.