An Early Sign of Dementia Risk May Be Keeping You Up at Night, Says Study

Question

This article is saying that having bad dreams frequently may be a sign that your at risk for dementia.

Answer 1

The article, mentions a study that is published in eClinicalMedicine journal. The journal is reputable and is used for early evidence in clinical research. The study also uses a wide range of participants to analyze the data. There are "over 600 people aged between 35 and 64, and 2,600 people aged 79 and older" used in the study which allows for a wide range of data to be collected. The article suggests that experiencing nightmares frequently can cause cognitive decline and eventually led to dementia. In another article, it supports this claim. It states, "having more regular distressing dreams during childhood was linearly and statistically significantly associated with a higher risk of developing cognitive impairment or PD by age 50." This suggests that frequently experiencing nightmares could be an early sign of developing dementia later down the line.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10102896/

Comments

This is a great fact check as you discuss what the main claim is, the potential flaws in the study cited by the claim, and provide your own source which backs up this information. I would suggest discussing why your source is reputable and explain how the source the claimer used is reputable.

Answer 2

At first glance this source doesn't seem reliable to be making such a large claim. However, upon further investigation, it's clear that the article was written by a qualified professional who's findings were also published in a medical journal. Abidemi Otaiku, a clinical fellow in neurology at University of Birmingham conducted a nine year study following over 600 people of various ages. This began with a thorough survey about sleep habits, eating, every detail. Throughout the study, data began to reflect that people were overall four times more likely to develop declines in cognitive and memory capabilities. Otaiku is the author of the article cited in the claim. This information is direct from the source, reliable, and supported by multiple medical institutes.

https://www.alzinfo.org/articles/caregiving/what-our-dreams-may-tell-us-about-our-alzheimers-risk/

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(22)00370-4/fulltext

Comments

I think that it is really important that you have looked more into the actual study and researched the people who had conducted it. Sometimes the websites the information is being presented in seem sketchy and so it's easy to quickly think it isn’t true, which is why it's important to trace the information back all the way to where it originated.