Post No64...Does sleeping more help people living with dementia?

As dementia progresses, it is normal for people to sleep more. One theory for this is because, for those living with dementia, their brains are working so hard to comprehend even the smallest things, such a speaking, seeing, smelling, responding to a question; many of the things we can do quickly takes people with dementia much longer to process. As a result their brains are quick to tire, and often they can present as sleepy, sometimes also as more confused.

However, what about the importance of sleep in the earlier stages of dementia? For this post, I have taken inspiration from an article in scitechdaily (By Cornell University, published August 16, 2024), and links to the full article can be found at the bottom.

Memory Reset

The opening of the article, which is about memory reset, states that ‘Cornell University research demonstrates that sleep resets the hippocampus, enabling continuous learning and offering new strategies for treating memory-related disorders’, which is later linked to supporting people who are living with Alzheimer's disease. The article goes on to mention that when we sleep our brain consolidates memories and stores them, enabling us to then learn new things the next day.

The notion of memory reset is interesting, because of course memories (particularly recent memories) are one of the first things that start to disappear when a person is living with dementia. The study does not suggest that if a person with dementia sleeps more, they will retain their memories for longer, but does go on to say ‘the researchers believe they now have the tools to boost memory, by tinkering with the mechanisms of memory consolidation, which could be applied when memory function falters, such as in Alzheimer’s disease’

Would this benefit the carer?

If you are caring for someone living with dementia, you are experiencing all sorts of emotions each day, including grief, loss, anger, frustration, love…the list goes on, and sometimes you can feel all of these in a short space of time. Throw in the physical side of caring, and you're faced with the real prospect of carer burnout, particularly if the person is also up during the night.

It would be beneficial therefore if the person with dementia was able to establish a positive sleep routine, not just for their own benefit, but also for the carer. If the carer is more rested, carer burnout may not happen quite so quickly.

How to support someone with dementia getting more sleep

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, there are a few things that carers can try to help the person living with dementia to get a better night’s sleep. Some of these include:

·        Keep to a routine

·        Go out in natural daylight

·        Fun and interesting activities

·        Do not eat too late, and avoid caffeine later in the day.

·        Make bedtime relaxing, and prepare for it early by dimming lights, closing curtains etc.

Understanding a person’s medication / pain management is also important, if a person with dementia is in pain they might not be able to identify where, or express that, they are in pain. Looking out for any pain ques and using the correct medication is therefore also important.

You can also consider using weighted products such as weighted blankets, but not one that is too big and heavy.

What if the person is in a care home?

If a person living with dementia is in a care home, and are up a lot at night, this can put additional pressure of the staff as staffing ratios are reduced for the night shift. If the person is also disrupting other residents, the home may need to consider the persons suitability, or perhaps review the medication for the night time routine. Also, if a person is up all night, they will not be as able to take advantage of any family visitors the next day, or take part in daily activities, due to tiredness.

 There are some studies that suggest that weighted blankets may help a person living with dementia in a care home to sleep longer, and fall asleep faster, following a sample completed in Sweden. A link to the article can be found here

Conclusion

To conclude, it is interesting that studies are linking sleep with not only restoring our energy, but also our memory function. We know that, currently, dementia is not curable, but there are studies that suggest by keeping your brain active you can potentially slow the progression of dementia, as you brain can still create new neuro pathways if it is being exercised.

By keeping one’s brain engaged but also well rested, may therefore help a person who is living with dementia and their carer. Carers will at some point experience carer burnout, but anything that can be done to limit this, whilst also helping the person with dementia, must surely be worth a try.

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